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I 


THE  WILLIAMSBURG  BRIDGE 


THE 

WILLIAMSBURG 
BRIDGE 


AN  ACCOUNT  OF  THE  CEREMONIES 
ATTENDING  THE  FORMAL  OPENING 
OF  THE  STRUCTURE,  DECEMBER 
THE  NINETEENTH,  MDCCCCIII 


TOGETHER  WITH  AN  ILLUSTRATED 
HISTORICAL  AND  DESCRIPTIVE 
SKETCH      OF     THE  ENTERPRISE 

By  EDWARD  HUNGERFORD 


AND  CERTAIN   STATISTICAL  TABLES 


PUBLISHED  BY  THE  CELEBRATION  COMMITTEE 
OF  THE  BOARD  OF  ALDERMEN 
OF   THE   CITY   OF   NEW  YORK 

MDCCCCIII 

THE  EAGLE  PRESS  :  :  :  BROOKLYN-NEW  YORK 


City  of  New 

York 

SETH    LOW,      :     :     :     :  : 

:     :     :     :  Mayor. 

GUSTAV  LINDENTHAL,  Commissioner  of  Bridges. 

LEFFERT  L.  BUCK,     :     :  : 

:      Chief  Engineer. 

Aldermanic  Committee 

PETER  HOLLER,  Chairman. 
JAMES  H.  McINNES 
JACOB  A.  CANTOR 
J.  EDWARD  SWAN  STROM 
FREDERICK  BRENNER 
JAMES  J.  DEVLIN 
LEOPOLD  W.  HARBURGER 
PATRICK  S.  KEELY 
HERBERT  PARSONS 
MAX  J.  PORGES 
TIMOTHY  P.  SULLIVAN 
WILLIAM  WENTZ 


THIS  BOOK  CONTAINS 


Page 


Formal  Opening  of  the  Bridge,      :::::::  9 

l.\  addition  to  which  are  printed 

Alderman  Holler's  Introduction,    :::::::  21 

Invocation  i:y  The  Rev.  James  H.  Darlington.  Pii.  D..  23 

Commissioner  Lindenthal's  Address,     ::::::  25 

.Mayor  Low's  Address,    :::::::::::  29 

President  Swanstrom's  Address,      :::::::  43 

President  Cantor's  Address,       ::::::::  45 

Senator  McCarren's  Address,  :::::::::  63 

The  Rev.  Father  Lavelle's  Benediction,  :     :    :     :     :  66 

together  with 

The  Building  of  the  Bridge,  :::::::::  67 

Statistical  Tables,       :::::::::::  130 

AND  A 

Necrology    :::::::::::::::  132 


SETH    LOW,   MAYOR   OF   NEW  YORK 


Formal  Opening  of  the  Bridge 


THE  Williamsburg'  bridge,  connecting  the  bor- 
oughs of  Manhattan  and  Brooklyn  in  the 
city  of  New  York,  was  opened  with  appro- 
priate ceremonies,  Saturday,  December  19,  1903.  The 
affair  was  in  every  sense  civic.  Yet  the  ceremonies  of 
dedication,  as  well  as  the  jollifications  that  surrounded 
them,  were  in  accord  with  the  dignity  of  the  occasion 
as  well  befitted  the  crowning  of  the  largest  suspension 
bridge  ever  constructed,  the  bridge  that  is  designed 
to  carry  more  traffic  than  any  river  span  ever  before 
built. 

The  day  dawned  cold  and  clear.  A  thick  and  ob- 
stinate haze  hung  closely  over  the  city  and  the  rivers 
that  serve  it,  but  the  sun,  as  it  mounted  on  high,  slowly 
burned  its  way  through  the  mist  and  a  little  after  noon 
the  veil  lifted,  disclosing  the  majestic  lines  of  the  bridge 
to  the  ferryboats'  passengers  and  to  those  persons  who 
had  already  grouped  themselves  at  points  of  vantage 
along  the  shore.  They  perceived  that  the  big  Williams- 
burg structure  had  been  transformed  by  the  art  of  the 
decorator.  Its  immense  proportions  might  have  ap- 
palled the  draper  of  flags  and  buntings,  but  he  had  gone 
2 


IO 


The  Williamsburg  Bridge 


at  his  task  bravely  and  the  result  had  been  obvious  in 
the  enhancing-  beauty  which  rosettes  and  semi-rosettes 
of  Old  Glory,  long  strings  of  limiting  and  banners  and 
lines  of  American  flags  lent  to  the  structure. 

Special  details  of  police  were  sent  to  the  bridge  and 
its  approaches  in  the  morning  until  a  force  of  1,400 
patrolmen  with  their  force  of  officers  formed  an  ade- 
quate protection  against  the  possibilities  of  accident 
or  panic. 

Mayor  Low  left  the  City  Hall  at  about  1  o'clock 
for  the  scene  of  the  ceremony.  He  was  accompanied  by 
Borough  President  Jacob  A.  Cantor,  of  Manhattan, 
Alderman  James  H.  Mclnnes,  vice-president  of  the  board, 
James  B.  Reynolds,  Mayor  Low's  secretary,  Captain 
Perry,  of  the  Brooklyn  Navy  Yard,  representing 
Rear  Admiral  Rodgers,  who  was  unable  to  be  present; 
Health  Commissioner  Lederle,  Lieutenant  Commander 
Barry  of  the  Navy,  Police  Commissioner  F.  V.  Greene, 
Corporation  Counsel  G.  L.  Rives,  President  C.  V. 
Fornes  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen,  Park  Commissioner 
John  E.  Fustis,  Correction  Commissioner  Thomas  W. 
Hynes,  City  Chamberlain  E.  R.  L.  Gould,  Tenement 
House  Commissioner  Robert  W.  De  Forest,  General 
J.  G.  Wilson,  president  of  the  New  York  Historical 
Society,  John  Bigelow,  Water  Commissioner  Robert 
G.  Monroe,  Dock  Commissioner  McDougall  Hawkes, 


The  Mayor  Starts  for  the  Bridge 


Borough  President  George  Cromwell  of  Richmond, 
Aqueduct  Commissioner  Ten  Eyck,  Aldermen  Sullivan, 
Harburger,  Parsons  and  Porges  of  the  committee  in 
charge  of  the  celebration;  F.  B.  Thnrber,  Lewis  Nixon, 
Smith  E.  Lane  and  James  W.  Boyle,  former  East  river 
bridge  commissioners ;  the  Rev.  Father  Lavelle,  H.  A. 
Rogers,  City  Clerk  P.  J.  Scully,  Alderman  Devlin,  John 
P.  Windolph,  Elections  Commissioners  John  R.  Voorhis 
and  R.  C.  Fuller,  Tax  Commissioners  Rufus  L.  Scott, 
Samuel  Strasbourger  and  George  J.  Gillespie ;  Theodore 
M.  Banta  of  the  Civil  Service  Commission,  Park  Com- 
missioner Young,  Tax  Assessors  Benjamin  E.  Hall, 
Henry  B.  Ketchum  and  Enoch  Vreeland;  William 
Montgomery,  A.  P.  Proctor,  F.  W.  Rhinelander, 
William  J.  Coombs,  and  William  J.  Moran,  assistant 
secretary  to  Mayor  Low. 

The  party,  escorted  by  Troop  "A,"  N.  G.  N.  Y.,  drove 
through  Broadway  to  Broome  street,  where  the  car- 
riages in  which  it  rode  passed  between  a  double  file  of 
the  71st  Regiment,  N.  G.  N.  Y.,  drawn  up  for  review. 
After  that  the  Mayor  and  his  party  proceeded  to  the 
entrance  of  the  Manhattan  approach  at  Clinton  and 
Delancey  streets.  There  the  delegation  of  city  officials 
and  citizens  alighted  preparatory  to  their  walk  across 
the  new  bridge. 

In  the  meantime  a  similar  party  was  setting  forth 


12 


The  Williamsburg  Bridge 


from  the  Borough  Hall  in  Brooklyn.  Troop  "C,"  N.  G. 
N.  Y..  acted  as  its  escort,  and  in  the  carriages  that  con- 
tained the  party  were  J.  Edward  Swanstrom,  president 
of  the  Borough  of  Brooklyn ;  Joseph  Cassidy,  president 
of  the  Borough  of  Queens ;  Bridge  Commissioner  Gus- 
tav  Lindenthal ;  Leffert  L.  Buck,  chief  engineer  of  the 
Department  of  Bridges;  Andrew  D.  Baird,  James  A. 
Sperry,  Henry  Batterman,  members  of  the  first  bridge 
commission;  Julian  D.  Fairchild,  John  W.  Weber, 
James  D.  Bell,  members  of  the  second  bridge  com- 
mission: John  L.  Shea,  former  bridge  commissioner; 
David  A.  Boody,  Charles  A.  Schieren,  Frederick  W. 
Wurster  and  Daniel  D.  Whitney,  former  mayors  of 
Brooklyn ;  Archibald  McLean,  engineer  in  charge  of 
the  Brooklyn  Bridge;  William  M.  Calder,  Superintend- 
ent of  Buildings ;  William  C.  Redfield,  Public  Works 
Commissioner;  John  Thatcher,  Superintendent  of 
Sewers;  Otto  Kempner,  Deputy  Commissioner  of  Pub- 
lic Works ;  George  W.  Tillson,  engineer  in  charge  of  the 
Bureau  of  Highways;  F.  J.  Helmle,  Superintendent  of 
Public  Buildings  and  Offices;  J.  A.  Rooney,  Supervisor 
of  Complaints ;  A.  J.  Aubrey,  secretary  to  Commissioner 
Redfield  ;  R.  W.  May,  Clerk  of  the  Bureau  of  Street 
Openings;  Richard  H.  Laimbeer,  Jr.,  Deputy  Fire 
Commissioner;  Justin  McCarthy,  Jr.,  Secretary  to  the 
Borough   President;   Holton   D.  Robinson,  Kingsley 


The  Brooklyn  Party  Starts 


13 


L.  Martin,  Robert  E.  Hawley,  Alexander  Johnson, 
Edgar  D.  Knap,  engineers  of  the  Bridge  Department; 
Arthur  T.  Reilly,  auditor  of  the  Bridge  Department; 
Herbert  F.  Gunnison,  Lieutenant-Colonel  W.  F. 
Spicer,  of  the  United  States  Marine  Corps ;  Norman  S. 
Dike,  Major  Ebstein,  Deputy  Police  Commissioner; 
Martin  W.  Littleton,  President-elect  of  the  Borough 
of  Brooklyn ;  Commander  H.  Morrell,  United  States 
Navy;  Medical  Inspector  G.  H.  Harman,  United 
States  Navy. 

The  Brooklyn  members  of  the  committee  in  charge 
of  the  ceremonies,  who  rode  with  the  parade,  were 
Aldermen  Peter  Holler,  James  H.  Mclnnes,  Patrick 
S.  Keely,  Frederick  Brenner  and  William  Wentz. 
They  were  accompanied  by  the  other  Brooklyn  members 
of  the  Board  of  Aldermen. 

The  Brooklyn  party,  having  received  an  early  start, 
traversed  the  streets  of  that  borough  by  a  devious  route 
until  it  reached  the  corner  of  Broadway  and  Rockaway 
avenue,  where  it  fell  in  ahead  of  a  citizens'  parade  that 
had  been  organized  by  citizens  of  the  Long  Island  dis- 
tricts that  hope  to  receive  the  greatest  benefits  from 
the  new  bridge. 

The  citizens'  parade  had  started  from  Broadway  and 
Rockaway  avenue  some  time  before,  and  under  the 
charge  of  Grand  Marshal  William  Cullen  Bryant.  It 


THE  SOUTH  ROADWAY 


The  Formation  of  the  Parade 


!5 


was  headed  by  the  grand  marshal  and  twenty-five 
mounted  police  and  was  composed  of  the  following 
organized  bodies: 

First  Division. 

Officials  of  the  Borough  of  Brooklyn,  escorted  hy  Troop  "C," 
Cavalry,  N.  G.  N.  Y. 
Company,  U.  S.  Marine  Corps. 
Forty-seventh  Regiment,  Infantry,  N.  G.  N.  Y. 
Ambulance,  Second  Brigade,  N.  G.  N.  Y. 
G.  K.  Warren  Post  No.  286,  G.  A.  R. 
One   Hundred    and   Thirty-ninth    Volunteers,    War  Veterans 

Association. 
People's  Bridge  Association,  with  Band. 
Grand  Street  Board  of  Trade,  with  Band. 
Mitchel's  Band. 
Broadway  Board  of  Trade,  with  Float. 
Twenty-eighth  Ward  Board  of  Trade. 
Ridgewood  Band. 
Ridgewood  Board  of  Trade  Float. 
Twenty-eighth  Ward  Taxpayers  Association. 
Ocean  Hill  Board  of  Trade. 
Twenty-sixth  Ward  Board  of  Trade. 
Citizens'  Protective  Association. 
Fulton  Street  Board  of  Trade. 
Eastern  District  Board  of  Trade. 
Arion  Singing  Society.    (Assigned  to  grand  stand.) 
United  Singers  of  Brooklyn. 
Schwaebischer  Saengerbund. 
F.  F.  William  Battery,  with  Band. 

Second  Division. 

Letter  Carriers'  Division. 
St.  Francis'  College  Cadets. 
St.  Leonard's  College  Cadets. 
St.  John's  College  Cadets. 


i6 


The  Williamsburg  Bridge 


St.  John's  Home  Cadets. 
Educational  Float. 
St.  John's  Orphan  Asylum  Band. 
Trinity  Baptist  Church  Brigade. 
Greene  Avenue  Presbyterian  Church  Brigade. 
St.  Thomas'  Episcopal  Church  Brigade,  with  Drum  Corps. 
Holy  Cross  Episcopal  Church  Guards. 
South  Bushwick  Reformed  Church  Brigade,  with  Drum  Corps. 
United  Congregational  Church  Brigade. 
St.  Peter's  Lutheran  Church  Brigade,  with  Drum  Corps. 
Irving  Square  Presbyterian  Church,  Battery  A,  Heavy  Artillery, 
with  Drum  Corps. 
Brooklyn  Cadet  Troop. 
Industrial  Float. 

Third  Division. 

Farmers  Club,  with  Band  and  one  Farm  Wagon. 
Unity  Republican  Club. 
Turn  Verein. 
Bushwick  Republican  Club. 
Jefferson  Democratic  Club,  with  Band. 
Twentieth  Assembly  District  Citizens'  Union,  with  Drum  and 

Fife  Corps. 

Twenty-first  Assembly  District  Democratic  Association. 
Charles  J.  Haubert  Battery. 
Gravesend  Exempt  Volunteer  Firemen's  Association. 
Young  Men's  Republican  Club,  Seventeenth  Ward. 
B.  T.  Union  No.  70. 
Knockers  Club,  with  Tally-ho  and  Band. 
Law  and  Order  League. 
Court  Kings  County,  I.  O.  O.  F. 
Fifteenth  Assembly  District  Republican  Club. 
Twentieth  Assembly  District  Democratic  Club. 
Twenty-first  Assembly  District  Republican  Club. 
Business  Men's  Association  of  Flushing. 
Penn-Glen  Wheelmen. 
Automobile  Division. 
Mounted  Police. 


The  Ceremonies  on  the  Bridge 


17 


The  parade  proceeded  straight  down  Broadway  to 
the  new  bridge  plaza,  where  it  passed  the  grand  stand 
and  soon  after  swung  into  Bedford  avenue.  It  con- 
tinued up  that  thoroughfare,  past  the  Hanover  Club 
at  Rodney  street,  where  it  was  reviewed  by  the  grand 
marshal  before  being  disbanded.    Its  course  had  been 


THE  PROMENADE  WITHIN  THE  END  SPAN 


between  two  heavy  lines  of  applauding  citizens  and 
it  formed  an  appropriate  opening  for  the  afternoon's 
ceremony. 

As  it  passed  through  its  final  stages  of  progress  the 
delegation  of  Brooklyn  borough  officers,  aldermen  and 
citizens,  led  by  Borough  President  Swanstrom  and  Al- 
dermen Holler,  Keely  and  Brenner,  walked  out  the 

3 


i8 


The  Williamsburg  Bridge 


Brooklyn  side  of  the  bridge.  At  a  point  only  a  few- 
feet  east  of  the  mathematical  centre  of  the  bridge  the 
party  halted  in  the  south  roadway  and  awaited  the 
arrival  of  the  Mayor. 

The  Mayor  and  the  Brooklyn  Borough  President 
shook  hands  at  the  centre  of  the  bridge  at  just  2.30 
o'clock  that  afternoon.  Then  the  entire  party  turned 
toward  Brooklyn  and  the  bridge  was  formally  opened 
for  traffic.  This  simple  ceremony  had  been  witnessed 
by  comparatively  few.  Yet  the  booming  of  cannon  from 
the  bridge  approaches  in  both  boroughs  was  that  in- 
stant followed  by  a  din  of  steam  whistles,  in  which 
harbor-craft,  both  large  and  small,  joined,  and  whose 
echoes  were  taken  up  by  factory  whistles  and  church- 
bells.  Tn  this  way  the  actual  moment  of  meeting  on 
the  bridge  was  carried  far  and  near  and  was  made 
a  moment  of  interest  and  note. 

The  part}-  of  gentlemen,  unescorted  and  bearing  no 
sign  of  its  rank  save  the  silken  ensign  of  the  Mayor, 
which  was  carried  by  a  detailed  police  officer,  proceeded 
to  the  plaza  in  Williamsburg,  where  a  great  concourse 
of  persons  surrounded  the  temporary  grand  stand  that 
had  been  erected  there. 

The  exercises  that  followed  were  deeply  impressive. 
The  stand  was  filled  with  city  and  borough  officers  and 
invited  guests.    Alderman  Peter  Holler,  Chairman  of 


Speech  Making  on  the  Plaza 


19 


the  Committee  on  Exercises,  briefly  introduced  the  cere- 
monies. There  was  profound  silence  as  the  Rev.  James 
H.  Darling-ton,  Ph.D.,  rector  of  Christ  Church,  Wil- 
liamsburg, arose  and  offered  the  invocation,  which  gave 
way  to  hearty  applause  as  Gustav  Lindenthal,  the  Com- 
missioner of  Bridges,  started  his  speech  of  presentation. 
Mayor  Low's  acceptance  of  the  bridge,  given  in 
response  to  the  presentation  address,  was  felicitous  and 
was  greeted  with  a  most  cordial  reception.  Borough 
President  J.  Edward  Swanstrom,  of  Brooklyn,  had 
recently  been  somewhat  indisposed.  His  address  was 
short  and  pithy,  and  was  well  received,  together  with 
that  of  Borough  President  Jacob  A.  Cantor,  of  Man- 
hattan, which  followed.  Senator  Patrick  H.  McCarren, 
a  resident  of  Williamsburg  for  many  years,  found 
his  appearance  a  signal  for  an  ovation.  At  the  con- 
clusion of  his  remarks,  the  Rev.  Father  Lavelle 
offered  a  profoundly  beautiful  and  impressive  bene- 
diction, which  had  been  written  for  the  occasion 
by  Vicar-General  Mooney.  With  the  singing  of  a 
single  stanza  of  "The  Star-Spangled  Banner"  by  the 
assembled  concourse  of  citizens  the  speech-making 
ended. 

Mayor  Dow,  together  with  the  other  members  of  the 
party  who  had  attended  the  simple  ceremony  on  the 
middle  of  the  bridge,  then  repaired  to  the  hospitable 


20 


The  Williamsburg  Bridge 


home  of  the  Hanover  Club.  There  a  luncheon  was 
served  to  the  party,  which  ended  in  a  general  reception 
and  the  exchange  of  felicitations  upon  the  successful 
manner  in  which  the  ceremony  of  opening  the  bridge 
to  the  public  had  been  accomplished. 

The  day  ended  with  an  elaborate  display  of  fireworks 
from  the  bridge  structure  and  many  jollifications. 
Thousands  of  persons — just  how  many  will  never  be 
known — witnessed  the  pyrotechnic  display  from  points 
of  vantage  near  and  far.  They  gazed  with  rapt  at- 
tention at  the  beautiful  spectacle  placed  before  them — 
the  great  bridge  gleaming  in  fire  from  end  to  end. 


C.  V.  FORNES 
President  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen 


EDWARD  M.  GROUT 
Comptroller 


Alderman  Holler's  Introduction 


WE  are  now  ready  to  begin  the  ceremony  of 
opening-  to  the  public  the  second  and  the 
greater  of  the  two  steel  bonds  which  join 
our  boroughs  into  one.  Though  separated  by  the  river, 
we  have  always  been  one  city  in  sympathy,  one  in  mind, 
one  in  heart.  These  bridges  are  only  visible  expressions 
of  a  unity  which  has  always  existed. 

I  now  have  the  honor  of  introducing  to  you  a  clergy- 
man who,  as  rector  of  Christ  Church,  Williamsburg,  is 
known  throughout  all  the  boroughs,  both  as  a  preacher 
and  citizen,  the  Rev.  James  Henry  Darlington,  Ph.D. 


THE  PROMENADE  NEAR  THE  BROOKLYN  PLAZA 


Rev.  Dr.  Darlington's  Invocation 


HEAVENLY  FATHER,  we  thank  Thee  to-day 
for  the  fulfilment  of  many  hopes  and  the  com- 
pletion of  a  great  endeavor.  We  thank  Thee 
for  another  tie  joining  hitherto  separated  sections  of 
our  municipality.  May  we  feel,  like  St.  Paul,  that  we 
are  citizens  "of  no  mean  city."  May  we  glory  in  her 
triumphs  and  be  proud  of  her  wealth  and  influence, 
even  while  we  sorrow  for  her  poor,  and  mourn  her 
shortcomings  and  sins.  May  the  multitudes  of  every 
race  and  tongue,  intent  only  on  food,  raiment  and  daily 
necessities  who  pass  and  repass  over  this  bridge — 
greater  than  any  other  yet  attempted  by  human  hands 
— be  led  by  its  very  greatness  to  think  first  of  its  crea- 
tion in  the  minute  mind  of  man,  and  then  of  the  Creator 
of  the  universe  who  made  that  brain  and  all  other 
things.  May  we  thus  through  its  very  symmetry,  size 
and  perfection,  be  led  to  honor  Him  who  is  the  great 
Designer  and  Architect  of  creation. 

Let  the  people  praise  Thee,  O  God;  yea,  let  all  the 
people  praise  Thee. 


24 


The  Williamsburg  Bridee 


Then  shrill  the  earth  bring  forth  her  increase:  and 
God,  even  our  God,  shall  give  us  His  blessing. 

God  shall  bless  us;  and  all  ends  of  the  world  shall 
fear  I  lim. 


Praise  God,  from  whom  all  blessings  flow, 

Praise  Him,  all  creatures  here  below, 

Praise  Him  above,  ye  heavenly  bost, 

Praise  Father,  Son  and  Holy  Ghost. 


CHARLES  A.  SCHIEREN, 

MAYOR  OF  BROOKLYN  WHEN  THE  FIRST  BRIDGE 
COMMISSION  WAS  APPOINTED. 


Commissioner  Lindenthars  Address 


MR.  MAYOR — It  is  my  agreeable  duty  to-day  to 
officially  announce  to  you,  as  the  head  of  the 
city's  government  and  administration,  that 
after  seven  years  of  continuous  and  difficult  work  the 
second  bridge  across  the  East  river  is  completed,  so 
that  street  traffic  can  pass  over  it  from  now  on  with- 
out interruption. 

More  than  twenty  years  ago,  when  the  first  bridge 
over  the  East  river  was  opened,  with  great  and  im- 
posing ceremonies,  you  were  one  of  the  distinguished 
participants,  as  the  then  Mayor  of  Brooklyn.  Permit 
me  to  congratulate  you  on  your  presence  as  the  chief 
magistrate  of  our  great  consolidated  city  at  the  open- 
ing of  this  second  bridge.  It  is  probable  that  neither 
yourself  nor  any  one  of  the  participants  of  that  memor- 
able occasion  expected  to  see  another  bridge  built  over 
the  East  river  within  a  generation. 

So  great  were  the  difficulties  in  the  construction  of 
that  first  bridge,  so  many  were  the  new  problems  to  be 
solved,  that  fourteen  years  were  required  for  its  com- 
pletion. In  the  meantime,  the  progress  in  the  art  of 
bridge-building  has  been  so  rapid  that  for  the  second 

4 


2f> 


The  Williamsburg  Bridge 


bridge  only  one-half  the  time  of  the  first  bridge  was 
required.  It  is  within  the  bounds  of  reasonable  ex- 
pectation that  the  time  of  completion  of  the  third  and 
fourth  East  river  bridges,  already  in  process  of  con- 
struction, and  of  those  which  have  not  been  planned 
yet,  but  which  may  later  be  needed  and  built,  will  be 
little  more  than  half  the  time  consumed  in  the  con- 
struction of  the  Williamsburg  bridge. 

This  structure  is  to-day  the  heaviest  suspension 
bridge  in  existence,  and  the  largest  bridge  on  this 
continent.  It  is  twice  as  strong  as  the  Brook- 
lyn bridge.  The  imposing  and  stately  stone  towers 
of  the  Brooklyn  bridge  give  that  structure  the  appear- 
ance of  great  strength,  but  in  the  steel  towers  of  the 
new  bridge,  and  in  all  its  other  elements,  a  greater 
power  of  resistance  is  hidden. 

The  bridge  has  a  width  one-half  greater  than  that 
of  the  Brooklyn  bridge,  and  will,  therefore,  be  better 
able  than  that  avenue  to  meet  the  never  ceasing  and 
ever  increasing  traffic  between  the  two  parts  of  New 
York  City  separated  by  the  East  river. 

So  far  as  engineering  science  can  foretell  with 
confidence,  this  colossal  structure,  if  protected  against 
corrosion,  its  only  deadly  enemy,  will  stand  hundreds 
of  years  in  unimpaired  strength.  Small  as  the  traffic 
over  the  bridge  may  be  at  first,  it  will  no  doubt  grow  to 


New  York's  Great  Steel  Bridges 


27 


even  greater  volume  than  that  which  now  rolls  over 
the  Brooklyn  bridge  at  the  rate  of  120,000,000  pas- 
sengers per  year,  a  traffic  volume  which  has  never  been 
dreamed  of  by  the  builders  of  that  bridge  in  their  most 
extravagant  enthusiasm. 

The  first  bridge  was  built  to  connect  two  cities — 
New  York  and  Brooklyn.  This  second  structure  over 
the  East  river  is  the  first  one  built  by  the  present  con- 
solidated great  city,  New  York,  which  is  destined  to 
become  the  largest  city  in  the  history  of  mankind.  It 
will  have  a  distinction  all  its  own,  aside  from  its  size. 
Our  city  will  be  pre-eminently  the  city  of  great  bridges, 
representing  emphatically  for  centuries  to  come  the  civ- 
ilization of  our  age,  the  age  of  iron  and  steel.  A  time 
must  come,  not  many  generations  distant,  perhaps  not 
more  distant  than  the  crusades  in  the  past,  when  the 
building  of  such  colossal  structures  will  cease  be- 
cause the  principal  material  of  which  they  are  molded, 
that  is,  iron  and  steel,  will  not  be  longer  obtainable  in 
sufficient  quantity  and  cheapness.  When  the  iron  age 
has  gone,  the  great  steel  bridges  of  New  York  will 
be  looked  upon  as  even  greater  monuments  than  they 
are  now. 

In  informing  you,  Mr.  Mayor,  officially  and  cere- 
monially, that  the  Williamsburg  bridge  is  ready  for 
the  opening  of  traffic,  I  feel  that  it  is  also  my  most 


28 


The  1 1  'illiamsburg 


Bridge 


pleasant  duty  to  invite,  on  behalf  of  the  city,  your  ap- 
preciation of  and  I  hanks  for  the  faithful  work  of  the 
members  constituting"  the  two  commissions,  who  in- 
augurated, organized  and  formulated  the  plans. 
Thanks  are  also  due  to  all  the  members  of  the  engin- 
eering staff,  who  have  designed  and  executed  the  work 
with  untiring  devotion  to  duty,  as  well  as  to  all  the 
contractors,  whose  skill  and  energy  contributed  toward 
the  accomplishment  of  this  great  work. 


COL.  WILLIAM  L.  STRONG 


Mayor  Low's  Address 


TWENTY  years  ago,  last  May,  the  Brooklyn 
bridge,  the  first  to  span  the  East  river,  was 
thrown  open  to  the  public  with  imposing  cere- 
monies. In  its  marvellous  combination  of  graceful 
beauty  and  massive  strength,  it  at  once  took  its  place 
among  the  great  structures  of  all  time.  It  remains 
what  it  was  then,  one  of  the  wonderful  creations 
of  the  brain  and  hand  of  man.  To-day,  we  are 
engaged  in  opening  for  public  use  the  second  bridge 
across  the  East  river ;  thus  happily  illustrating 
the  old  adage,  that  "what  man  has  done,  man 
may  do."  This  second  bridge  indeed  is  larger,  in 
every  way,  than  its  fellow.  It  is  half  as  wide  again; 
it  is  longer,  and  more  commodious.  There  is  a  like- 
ness between  the  two  bridges  which  is  inspiring,  but 
there  are  also  differences,  both  in  point  of  construc- 
tion and  in  the  circumstances  attending  their  comple- 
tion, which  are  full  of  interest  and  suggestion. 

In  type,  the  two  bridges  are  alike,  but  it  is  indicative 
of  the  marvellous  growth  of  the  manufacture  and  use 
of  steel  in  this  country  since  1883  that  the  masonry 
towers  of  the  first  bridge  have  given  place  in  this  one 


3o 


The  Williamsburg  Bridge 


to  towers  of  steel.  This  reveals  in  a  striking  fashion 
how  the  use  of  steel  is  replacing  stone  as  well  as  iron 
and  wood  for  many  kinds  of  construction,  and  throws 
interesting  light  for  the  layman  on  the  magnitude  of 
the  demand  for  the  products  of  the  steel  furnace. 

The  distinguished  engineer,  Mr.  Leffert  L.  Buck, 
to  whose  genius  the  community  is  indebted  for  this 
imposing  structure,  has  placed  the  country  under  obli- 
gations to  him  in  more  ways  than  one.  In  August, 
1S61,  he  enlisted  as  a  private  in  the  6oth  New  York 
Volunteers  and  served  continuously  until  he  was  mus- 
tered out,  as  Captain,  in  August,  1865.  At  the  battle 
of  Lookout  Mountain,  the  color  sergeant  of  his  regi- 
ment was  wounded,  and  Sergeant  Buck,  as  he  then 
was,  grasped  the  colors  and  carried  them  to  the  end 
of  the  day.  Before  enlisting,  he  had  worked  four-and- 
one-half  years  in  a  machine  shop;  and,  upon  being 
mustered  out,  he  entered  the  Rensselaer  Polytechnic 
Institute  of  Troy  as  a  second-year  student,  graduat- 
ing in  the  class  of  1868.  It  is  little  wonder  that  our 
armies  could  bridge  rivers,  and  operate  railroads,  and 
surmount  unimaginable  obstacles,  when  private  soldiers 
were  in  so  many  cases  of  the  type  of  Mr.  Buck. 
Neither  is  it  any  wonder  that  our  country  has  forged 
steadily  ahead  since  the  war  to  the  first  place  in  the 
industrial  world,  when  men  who  gave  four  years  of 


Mayor  Low's  Tribute  to  Mr.  Buck 


3' 


their  youth  to  the  exciting'  demands  ol"  war  could  turn 
so  easily  to  school  for  further  preparation  for  the  arts 
of  peace.  Mr.  Buck  has  indeed  risen  to  an  eminence 
in  his  great  profession,  to  which  few  attain;  but  in  the 
steps  of  his  progress,  he  has  been  typical  of  the  great 
body  of  his  countrymen.  The  capacity  to  adapt  him- 
self to  new  and  strange  conditions  has  always  been 
characteristic  of  the  American,  and  I  know  not  whether 
to  admire  more  the  spirit  and  the  ability  to  go  from 
the  machine  shop  to  the  army  in  order  to  make  one 
of  the  irresistible  host  of  freedom,  or  the  spirit  and 
the  ability  to  go  from  the  army  to  the  professional 
school  in  order  to  become  one  of  the  servants  of  man- 
kind by  the  construction  of  such  a  superb  bridge  as 
this.  In  voicing  this  tribute  to  the  engineer,  I  like  to 
recall  at  the  same  time  our  obligation  to  the  good 
citizen  who  hazarded  his  life  for  the  preservation  of 
the  Union. 

No  such  achievement  as  this  bridge  is  ever  the  work  of 
a  single  man.  To  all  who  have  taken  part  in  it,  to  the 
successive  Mayors,  Boards  of  Trustees,  Bridge  Commis- 
sioners, Engineers,  Contractors  and  others  who  have 
had  part  in  it,  I  offer  the  City's  thanks ;  and  especially 
to  those  of  every  handicraft  who  have  done  the  actual 
work  in  the  shop  and  on  the  spot,  below  water  and 
above,  upon  the  bridge  itself.    No  less  than  31  men  have 


32 


The  Williamsburg  Bridge 


lost  their  lives  in  the  process  of  its  construction,  as  if 
by  such  sacrifice  to  consecrate  the  bridge  not  only  in 
the  esteem  but  also  to  the  service  of  their  fellow-men. 

It  sometimes  seems  as  if  no  work  of  any  kind  of  endur- 
ing value  was  ever  completed  except  at  the  cost  of  human 
life.  Tt  is  as  though  it  were  only  when  men  build  their 
lives  into  their  work  that  the  work  itself  becomes  worthy 
to  endure. 

The  changes  wrought  during  the  twenty  years  since 
the  Brooklyn  bridge  was  opened,  in  the  conception  of 
the  function  of  an  East  river  bridge,  and  in  the  politi- 
cal relationships  of  the  communities  which  such  a 
bridge  is  to  serve,  are  even  more  interesting  than  the 
changes  in  mechanical  construction.  W  hen  the  Brook- 
lyn bridge  was  opened,  two  cities,  which  before  had 
been  divided  by  a  river,  were  for  the  first  time  con- 
nected by  a  bridge.  This  physical  tie,  slight  as  it 
was,  proved  to  be  prophetic  of  their  manifest  destiny. 
To-day,  the  Williamsburg  bridge,  although  it  was 
begun  when  the  two  communities  were  still  politically 
distinct,  unites,  not  two  cities,  but  two  boroughs  of 
the  same  city.  The  East  river  has  become  a  highway 
running  through  the  city,  instead  of  a  stream  divid- 
ing two  cities  from  each  other.  This  bridge  will  be 
followed,  within  the  next  five  years,  by  two  others;  and 
then  it  will  be  even  more  apparent  than  it  is  now  how 


The  Brooklyn  Bridge  Traffic 


33 


truly  one  is  this  vast  community  in  all  its  parts.  The 
Brooklyn  bridge  was  built  originally  with  two  rail- 
road tracks,  upon  which  it  was  expected  that  passen- 
gers would  be  carried  to  and  fro  upon  shuttle  trains. 
The  evident  possibility  and  desirability  of  through 
traffic  across  the  bridge,  when  it  was  once  opened  to 
travel,  have  warped  it  from  its  intended  use,  and  have 
subjected  it  to  demands  that  were  not  contemplated 
when  it  was  designed.  Trolley  tracks  have  been  laid 
upon  the  roadways,  thus  reducing  their  availability 
for  the  purposes  for  which  they  were  constructed  and 
throwing  a  strain  upon  the  structure  which  was  not 
contemplated.  Neither  the  terminal  facilities  nor  the 
structural  arrangement  of  the  first  bridge  lend  them- 
selves well  to  the  use  that  has  been  made  of  it.  Despite 
all  discomfort,  however,  this  use  has  prevailed,  and 
in  so  doing  it  has  changed  our  conception  of  the  true 
function  of  such  a  bridge.  Twenty  years  ago,  when 
the  first  bridge  was  built,  it  was  thought  of  as  a  struc- 
ture for  uniting  independent  communities,  the  use  of 
which,  in  turn,  was  to  be  independent  of  the  system 
of  travel  in  both.  Public  convenience  has  broken  down 
that  idea,  and  an  East  river  bridge  must  now  be 
thought  of  simply  as  a  highway  over  the  water,  closely 
related  to  the  highways  on  both  sides  of  the  river.  The 
problem  of  providing  railroad  transit  across  such  a 

5 


34 


The  Williamsburg  Bridge 


bridge  has  thus  been  made  infinitely  more  difficult,  be- 
cause the  authorities  are  obliged  to  consider  not  only 
the  use  of  the  bridge  itself  but  also  its  use  in  connec- 
tion with  the  railroad  systems  on  either  side;  and  be- 
cause it  is  necessary  to  secure  the  co-operation  of  one 
or  both  of  these  systems  in  order  to  realize  the  best 
tise  of  the  bridge  as  a  railroad  thoroughfare.  The 
problem  is  still  further  complicated,  because  the  trolley 
system  at  one  end  of  the  bridge  is  an  overhead  system 
and  at  the  other  end  an  underground  system.  The 
strong  disposition,  in  Manhattan,  to  develop  subways, 
as  distinguished  from  elevated  roads,  is  still  another 
embarrassment.  Such  a  problem  as  this  would  be  diffi- 
cult enough  to  solve  if  the  city  were  in  full  control  of 
all  the  elements  of  it ;  but  the  city  can  only  move  suc  - 
cessfully when  it  has  secured  the  co-operation  of  one 
or  the  other,  or  of  all.  the  private  enterprises  that  con- 
trol the  transit  facilities  of  the  two  boroughs.  Every 
aspect  of  this  problem  has  been  the  subject  of  contin- 
uous study  and  conference  during  the  last  two  years, 
and  there  is  reason  to  hope  that,  in  the  near  future, 
an  acceptable  solution  of  it  will  be  found.  The  actual 
opening  of  the  bridge  to  public  use  is  likely  to  do 
more  than  anything  else  to  hasten  the  day  of  mutual 
agreement. 

Allied  to  this  problem,  and  yet  different  from  it,  is 


BENEATH    THE  SPAN 


36 


The  Williamsburg  Bridge 


the  necessity  of  providing  adequate  street  approaches 
to  the  bridge,  a  necessity  springing  from  the  concep- 
tion of  it  as  a  highway.  When  this  bridge  was  de- 
signed, seven  years  ago,  a  plaza  was  provided  at  each 
end,  as  if  that  were  all  that  were  necessary.  Doubtless 
some  realized,  even  then,  that  the  bridge  would  neces- 
sitate a  costly  rearrangement  of  its  street  approaches; 
but  nothing  further  was  then  done.  In  Manhattan, 
a  plaza  200  feet  square  has  now  been  provided  for,  and 
Delancey  street  has  been  ordered  to  be  widened,  from 
the  bridge  to  the  Bowery,  to  a  width  of  150  feet.  In 
the  spring,  the  actual  construction  of  this  plaza  and 
thoroughfare  will  be  begun.  A  new  street,  80  feet  in 
width,  continuing  Delancey  street  to  Elm  street,  has 
also  been  laid  down  upon  the  map ;  but  the  work  of 
construction  here  has  not  been  authorized  by  the  Local 
Board.  On  the  Brooklyn  side,  a  large  plaza  has  been 
created,  and  alternative  plans  have  been  submitted  for 
the  cutting  through  of  Grand  street  to  this  plaza,  and 
for  the  widening  of  Roebling  street  to  the  north.  The 
opening  of  Grand  street  through  to  the  plaza  seems  to 
be  clearly  wise. 

The  widening  of  Delancey  street  from  the  bridge  to 
the  Bowery  will  displace  5,000  people,  compelling  them 
to  find  new  homes;  and  the  creation  of  the  Brooklyn 
plaza  has  displaced  about  3,000  more.    It  is  estimated 


Needs  for  Street  Development 


37 


that  more  than  10,000  people  have  already  been 
displaced  in  Manhattan  by  the  construction  of  this 
bridge.  Thus  almost  20,000  people  have  been  compelled 
to  seek  new  homes  by  reason  of  this  enterprise.  This 
seems  to  be  the  occasion  to  make  acknowledgment  to  the 
many  thousands  of  our  fellow-citizens  who  have  thus 
submitted  to  inconvenience  in  the  public  interest. 

The  necessity  for  this  street  development  comes,  as 
I  have  said,  from  the  new  conception  of  an  East  river 
bridge  as  part  of  the  thoroughfare  system  of  the  city, 
and  that  conception  itself  has  only  been  really  brought 
home  to  the  people  by  the  actual  use  of  the  Brooklyn 
bridge.  It  is  an  interesting  commentary  on  this  demand 
that,  with  the  exception  of  the  abortive  widening  of 
Liberty  street  in  Brooklyn,  nothing  has  yet  been  done 
to  improve  conditions  at  either  end  of  this  great 
structure.  I  think  the  time  will  come  when  the  city- 
will  cease  to  make  a  railroad  yard  out  of  the  land  lying 
between  Sands  street  and  the  Borough  Hall  of  Brook- 
lyn. By  providing  for  through  communication  between 
the  various  bridges,  thus  doing  away  with  the  necessity 
for  a  railroad  yard  at  this  point,  and  by  deflecting  the 
tracks  in  Brooklyn  to  the  north,  an  opportunity  can  be 
had,  at  comparatively  little  expense,  for  providing  a  wide 
thoroughfare  from  the  Brooklyn  end  of  the  bridge  to 
the  Borough  Hall.    This  would  give  to  Brooklyn  what 


38 


The  Williamsburg  Bridge 


it  greatly  needs,  and  deserves,  an  entrance  that  can 
he  made  hoth  attractive  and  interesting. 

This  discussion  shows  how  easily  communities  that 
are  really  one  can  become  one  in  fact,  however  long  they 
may  have  been  divided.  It  illustrates,  also,  how  great 
is  our  indebtedness,  as  a  city,  to  such  men  as  Andrew 
H.  Green  and  J.  S.  T.  Stranahan,  not  to  mention  others, 
both  living  and  dead,  who  through  good  report  and  evil 
report,  preached  the  gospel  of  consolidation  until  it  be- 
came an  accomplished  fact.  When  one  tries  to  imagine 
the  consequences  to  the  great  city,  in  the  distribution 
of  its  population  and  in  other  ways,  that  will  follow 
the  completion  of  this  bridge  and  of  the  two  other  bridges 
which  have  been  already  begun,  and  of  the  tunnels 
that  are  projected,  the  imagination  is  staggered.  At  the 
present  time  there  are  only  four  tracks  between  Man- 
hattan and  Brooklyn,  two  of  which  are  trolley  tracks 
operated  at  every  disadvantage  on  roadways  for 
vehicles.  Inside  of  five  years,  28  additional  pairs  of 
tracks,  by  bridge  and  tunnel,  are  likely  to  be  in  opera- 
tion, every  one  of  which  will  be  free  from  the  interrup- 
tion of  other  travel.  In  the  decade  between  1890  and 
1900,  the  population  of  Manhattan  and  The  Bronx  grew, 
approximately,  to  the  extent  of  450,000.  In  the  same 
decade,  the  population  of  what  are  now  the  Boroughs  of 
Brooklyn  and  Queens  grew,   approximately,   to  the 


The  Future  of  New  York 


39 


extent  of  400,000.  If  this  has  been  the  comparative  rate 
of  growth  during  the  regime  of  the  single  bridge  and 
the  ferries,  what  will  be  the  proportionate  rate  of  growth 
when  there  are  four  bridges  and  two  tunnels  crossing 
the  East  river,  and  when  there  are  thirty-two  pairs  of 
railroad  tracks  as  against  four?  This,  of  course,  is  not 
a  complete  statement  of  the  problem,  for  the  subway  in 
Manhattan  to  the  north  will  immensely  increase  the 
facilities  for  travel  in  that  direction,  and  the  additional 
lines  of  subway  to  The  Bronx  that  are  already  under 
consideration  will  do  still  more  to  equalize  the  oppor- 
tunity of  access  to  the  different  boroughs.  The  estab- 
lishment of  a  municipal  ferry  to  Richmond  will  also 
facilitate  the  movement  of  population  to  that  borough. 
One  thing,  however,  may  be  confidently  predicted.  For 
many  years,  the  population  of  New  York  will  spread 
itself  out  over  a  wider  and  wider  area,  and  the  terrible 
congestion  of  population  in  parts  of  Manhattan  island 
should  at  least  be  held  in  check  and  will  probably  be 
modified.  Such  a  result,  from  every  point  of  view,  is 
devoutly  to  be  wished.  It  has  been  made  possible  by 
consolidation,  and  it  will  remain  the  abiding  vindication 
of  that  achievement. 

Standing  here,  at  such  a  time  and  on  such  an  occasion, 
one  strives  in  vain  to  picture  to  himself  the  future  of 
the  City  of  New  York.    Already,  it  is  a  city  wonderful 


40 


The  Williamsburg  Bridge 


in  its  resources,  wonderful  in  its  achievements,  and  still 
more  wonderful  in  its  possibilities.  It  contains  within 
its  borders  350  miles  of  waterfront — the  water- 
front of  a  principality.  Its  great  rivers,  which 
have  separated  it  from  itself  and  from  the  mainland, 
are  being  pierced  by  tunnels  and  spanned  by  bridges  in 
every  direction,  so  that  the  city  in  the  near  future,  in 
all  its  parts,  will  command  what  it  has  never  had  before 
— unbroken  communication  with  the  continent,  and  this 
without  suffering  any  impairment  of  its  superb  rivers 
or  harbor.  With  this  new  access  of  opportunity  and  this 
new  sense  of  power,  there  has  come  into  our  civic  life 
a  new  sense  of  beauty  and  a  new  scale  of  grandeur.  The 
city  that  is  to  be,  20  years  hence,  is  likely  to  surpass  the 
city  that  we  know,  in  beauty  and  in  impressiveness,  as 
much  as  the  city  of  the  Williamsburg  bridge  surpasses 
the  city  of  the  Brooklyn  bridge  of  twenty  years  ago. 

Let  us  who  are  New  Yorkers  never  lose  faith  in 
our  city ;  let  us  never  lose  our  pride  in  it ;  and  never  lose 
our  love  for  it.  Continually  it  is  taking  on  new  char- 
acteristics, both  outwardly  and  inwardly.  They  who 
have  to  do  with  its  affairs  must  always  be  alive  to  these 
things.  Decade  by  decade,  the  standards  of  its  muni- 
cipal life  advance,  and  decade  by  decade,  by  reason  of  the 
higher  standards,  things  that  were  formerly  accepted  as  a 
matter  of  course  become  impossible.  He  who  is  permitted, 


The  Mayor's  Acceptance 


41 


either  in  public  or  in  private  life,  to  do  anything  for  the 
welfare  of  such  a  city  may  well  count  himself  a  happy 
man;  for  it  has  been  given  to  him  to  serve  a  city  which 
is  already  one  of  the  most  powerful  centres  of  influence 
in  the  world,  and  whose  influence  is  destined  to  become 
more  and  more  dominating  as  the  years  roll  on. 

Mr.  Commissioner,  I  accept  the  Williamsburg  bridge 
from  your  hands,  on  behalf  of  the  City,  with  the  more 
pleasure  because  I  know  how  much  you  have  done  to 
hasten  its  completion,  and  I  pronounce  it  to  be  open  from 
this  day  forward  to  the  public  use. 


President  Swanstrom's  Address 


THE  opening"  of  the  new  bridge  across  the  East 
river  is  an  event  so  altogether  unusual  that 
it  has  occurred  but  once  before  since  Columbus 
discovered  America. 

This  occasion  may  therefore  be  truly  regarded  as 
one  of  supreme  importance  to  the  welfare  and  prosperity 
not  only  of  this  borough  but  of  our  greater  city. 

Since  the  old  bridge  was  opened  to  public  use, 
twenty  years  ago,  we  have  seen  Brooklyn  grow  from  a 
community  of  600,000  souls  to  a  population  of  more 
than  double  that  number. 

The  joining  together  of  the  two  cities  of  New  York 
and  Brooklyn  by  a  ligament  of  steel  made  it  inevitable 
that  they  should  eventually  be  consolidated  under  one 
name  and  one  government. 

It  is  an  interesting  and  rather  happy  coincidence 
that  Mr.  Low,  who,  as  Mayor  of  Brooklyn,  was  called 
upon  to  accept  the  old  bridge  when  it  was  formally 
opened,  twenty  years  ago,  is  present  here  to-day  to 
perform  a  similar  function  as  the  chief  magistrate  of 
the  greatest  city  in  the  world  but  one. 

We  who  are  Brooklynites  may  well  congratulate 


44 


The  Williamsburg  Bridge 


ourselves  upon  the  completion  of  this  new  and  mag- 
nificent avenue  in  the  air.  We  have  waited  patiently 
for  its  completion  these  many  years  and  now  that  our 
patience  has  been  rewarded  we  gratefully  welcome  this 
splendid  achievement,  rejoicing  in  the  knowledge  that 
it  will  stand  for  generations  to  come  as  a  monument 
to  the  energy,  enterprise  and  public  spirit  of  the  people 
of  this  great  metropolis. 


GUSTAV  LINDENTHAL  NELSON  L.  ROBINSON 


President  Cantor's  Address 


THE  formal  opening  of  this  great  piece  of  bridge 
construction,  stately  and  magnificent,  vividly 
reminds  us  not  only  of  the  exercises  which 
attended  the  opening  of  the  Brooklyn  bridge, 
the  lessons  which  were  then  taught  and  the 
opinions  expressed,  but  recalls  also  the  hopes, 
fears  and  anxieties  so  eloquently  presented  by  the 
distinguished  speakers  on  that  occasion.  That  event 
occurred  almost  twenty  years  ago,  and  several  of  the 
speakers  on  that  memorable  occasion  gave  expression 
to  the  thought  that  New  York  and  Brooklyn  were 
closely  drifting  together  and  that  the  ultimate  result 
would  be  the  consolidation  of  the  two  cities  into  one 
municipality.  In  the  eloquent  oration  of  that  distin- 
guished and  patriotic  New  Yorker,  Abram  S.  Hewitt, 
he  expressed  some  apprehension  and  anxiety  in  case 
such  a  result  was  accomplished.  At  that  time  there 
had  been  more  or  less  agitation  in  favor  of  the  project, 
but  in  speaking  of  the  maladministration  existing  in 
New  York,  he  said  that  in  his  judgment  there  would 
be  an  inability  on  the  part  of  the  greater  community 
to  satisfactorily  solve  these  municipal  problems,  and  he 


46 


The  Williamsburg  Bridge 


feared,  from  his  knowledge  of  municipal  affairs,  that 
greater  evils  would  necessarily  follow  under  a  more 
extended  form  of  government. 

Notwithstanding  these  opinions,  thus  expressed  by 
a  man  who  has  indelibly  impressed  his  individuality 
upon  our  city,  another  equally  distinguished  New 
Yorker,  Andrew  H.  Green  ( who  recently  passed  to  the 
Unknown),  with  a  determination,  zeal  and  energy  un- 
surpassed, carried  on  the  project  until  his  hopes  were 
realized  and  the  greater  city  became  an  accomplished 
fact. 

The  apprehensions  I  refer  to  were  shared  by  many 
of  our  people  for  the  reason  that  municipal  government 
throughout  this  country  and  elsewhere  had  proved  to 
be  weak,  ineffective  and  fraught  with  many  evils.  Citi- 
zens of  the  various  municipalities  were  engaged  in  the 
great  struggle  for  better  government,  and  were  exhaust- 
ing all  their  resources  and  energies  in  eradicating  exist- 
ing evils.  Local  self-government  was  on  trial,  and 
measures  were  being  constantly  devised  for  the  substi- 
tution of  a  governmental  framework  that  would  check 
corrupt  practices,  concentrate  responsibility,  purify  the 
ballot,  make  maladministration  more  difficult  and 
arouse  the  activities  of  a  sluggish  citizenship.  The 
world  had  been  taught  that  smaller  municipalities  were 
more  easily  and  better  governed  because  a  closer  watch 


The  Growth  of  New  York 


47 


could  be  kept  on  the  officials  entrusted  with  the  govern- 
ing- power ;  but  when  it  was  generally  known  and  ad- 
mitted that  even  these  smaller  cities  failed  to  show  the 
beneficent  local  government  which  their  requirements 
demanded,  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  many  broad- 
minded  citizens,  keenly  anxious  for  wholesome  govern- 
ment, should  have  dreaded  even  the  possibility  of  the 
creation  of  a  greater  city,  with  its  vast  population, 
governed  by  an  army  of  officeholders,  with  increased 
taxation,  and  with  millions  to  be  annually  spent  for 
public  improvements. 

But  this  greater  city  has  weathered  the  storm  and 
has  to  a  very  great  extent  justified  the  expectations  of 
its  founder  and  those  closely  allied  to  him,  and  as  time 
has  passed,  the  fears,  anxieties  and  doubts  of  those 
who  opposed  the  creation  of  it,  have  been  gradually 
dispelled. 

It  might  be  interesting  on  this  occasion  to  give  a 
rapid  sketch  of  the  growth  of  the  city  from  its  early 
days,  when,  through  the  graciousness  of  Stuyvesant, 
freedom  was  given  to  its  citizens  and  self-government 
was  established.  Old  New  York,  then  confined  in  terri- 
torial extent  to  Manhattan  island,  has  grown  slowly  but 
surely  from  an  insignificant  community  to  one  of  ex- 
ceptional power  and  influence.  Its  great  interests  have 
been  carefully  nurtured,  its  commerce  largely  increased 


48 


The  Williamsburg  Bridge 


and  its  financial  power  steadily  advanced  until  to-day 
it  stands  the  queen  of  this  great  continent,  with  its  won- 
derful influence  radiating  throughout  the  world. 

What  has  brought  about  this  remarkable  growth  of 
power  and  of  influence?  When  we  remember  that  the 
city  at  its  birth  had  limited  resources  and  sparse 
population,  with  but  little  trade  and  many  rival- 
ries, how  was  it  possible  for  this  small  and  strug- 
gling community — a  mere  speck  on  the  map  of 
the  world — to  literally  overshadow  older  estab- 
lished communities,  whose  resources  had  been 
already  developed,  and  whose  power  was  felt  and 
feared  wherever  trade  and  commerce  penetrated? 
What  magic  wand  touched  our  city  and  made  pos- 
sible this  glorious  reality?  By  what  means  did  this 
miniature  city  develop  into  the  greatest  metropolis  on 
this  continent,  and  one  surely  destined  to  be  the  great- 
est city  in  the  civilized  world?  It  is  true  that  nature 
has  given  us  a  harbor  fully  equal  if  not  surpassing  that 
of  any  other  city  in  any  country  in  the  world ;  a  gateway 
leading  from  the  great  ocean  up  to  our  very  doors,  and 
that  undoubtedly  has  given  us  a  great  commercial  ad- 
vantage, as  it  provides  direct  access  to  foreign  lands. 
It  cannot  be  disputed  that  this  picturesque  harbor,  thus 
designed  by  nature  for  the  great  carrying  trade  of 
nations,  has  been  one  of  the  chief  causes  leading  up 


The  First  Harlem  Bridge 


49 


to  our  development  and  prestige.  It  gave  us  a  start  in 
the  world-wide  battle  for  commercial  supremacy.  But 
then  this  great  advantage  which  God  has  given  to  the 
city,  would  not  have  been  utilized,  as  shown  by  other 
countries  where  similar  advantages  remain  unimproved, 
had  it  not  been  for  the  sturdy  character,  strength  of 
purpose,  fixed  determination  and  patriotic  qualities  of 
the  earlier  settlers,  and  those  who  by  recent  persecution 
and  love  of  freedom  had  found  homes  on  its  shores. 

While  it  is  true  that  the  governmental  power  of  the 
early  city  extended  over  the  whole  of  the  island,  still 
its  population  was  narrowed  down  to  a  small  section. 
It  must  be  said  to  the  credit  of  the  people,  however,  that 
they  carefully  watched  the  administration  of  affairs  so 
that  many  blessings  flowed  from  it.  It  was  a  simple 
piece  of  municipal  machinery,  closely  watched  and 
economically  administered,  with  every  proposed  im- 
provement carefully  scanned  and  debated  before  un- 
dertaking, both  as  to  necessity  and  cost. 

The  rural  settlement  just  north  of  the  Harlem 
river,  now  the  busy  borough  of  The  Bronx,  did 
more  or  less  trading  with  the  people  of  Man- 
hattan island,  and  in  order  to  facilitate  not  only 
a  rapid  intercourse,  one  with  the  other,  but  to 
provide  adequate  transportation  facilities  for  those 
coming  from  other  places,  a  bridge  over  the  Harlem 

7 


5° 


The  Williamsburg  Bridge 


river  was  built.  Of  course,  this  structure,  so  modest 
in  (lesion,  served  the  purpose  of  the  railroads  as  well 
— those  great  channels  of  communication  which  have 
opened  up  this  great  country  and  by  means  of  which 
thousands  of  thriving  cities  and  villages  have  sprung 
into  being,  bringing  development  and  prosperity  from 
their  touch,  and  causing  the  golden  grain  and  other 
agricultural  products  to  be  sown  and  harvested  and 
afterward  distributed  through  the  markets  of  the 
world. 

It  can  be  truthfully  said,  therefore,  that  bridge- 
building,  to  a  very  great  extent,  has  been  inspired  by 
railroad  necessities.  And  so  this  bridge,  which  to-day 
starts  on  its  career  of  usefulness,  will  fail  almost  wholly 
of  the  purpose  of  its  building  if  adequate  railroad  facili- 
ties are  lacking. 

I  need  not  speak  in  detail  of  the  development  of  the 
early  city  and  of  the  territory  it  embraced.  Its  grow  th 
in  population,  in  business,  in  finance  is  known  to  all, 
and  its  high  and  proud  position  in  the  busy  markets 
of  the  world  has  been  reached,  not  only  through  the 
character  and  integrity  of  its  business  men,  but  by  the 
shrewdness  and  patriotism  of  its  people.  No  merchants 
or  bankers  are  more  widely  and  favorably  known  as 
men  of  high  purpose,  with  the  ennobling  qualities  of 
sterling  manhood,  than  those  of  this  city.    From  them 


52 


The  Williamsburg  Bridge 


have  emanated  those  high  standards  of  commercial  rec- 
titude, which,  disseminating  through  other  business 
centres,  are  now  recognized  as  the  characteristics  of 
the  American  commercial  spirit  of  to-day. 

Neither  have  our  people  been  lacking  in  those  traits 
of  generosity,  benevolence,  human  sympathy,  and  last, 
but  not  least,  religious  convictions  no  less  important. 
Let  me  first  speak  of  the  religious  spirit,  which,  from 
the  founding  of  the  city,  has  been  most  active  in  our 
midst.  I  do  not  refer  to  mere  forms  of  worship,  nor 
even  to  activity  in  church  affairs.  But  I  mean  a  radical 
belief  in  the  divine  power,  which  has  helped  not  a  little 
in  influencing  individual  action  and  making  the  better 
and  purer  citizen. 

And  so  from  the  early  inception  of  this  community 
down  to  the  present  day  these  principles  and  doctrines, 
inherent  in  our  people,  have  had  a  most  important 
bearing  in  preserving  not  only  the  honor  of  our  city, 
but  the  character  of  our  citizenship. 

As  to  her  charities,  her  great  structures  erected  for 
the  alleviation  of  distressed  humanity  in  all  forms  will 
bear  silent  but  ample  testimony  in  this  direction.  If  the 
army  of  men  and  women  who,  day  by  day,  unselfishly 
guided  by  motives  of  humanity,  are  unostentatiously 
making  life  better,  happier  and  more  attractive  to  thou- 
sands who  need  this  help — I  say,  could  this  but  be 


The  Bronx  Consolidation 


53 


observed,  it  would  teach  a  lesson  eloquent  and  godlike, 
beyond  the  power  of  human  pen  or  tongue  to  fitly 
describe.  The  humane  impulses  of  our  people  are 
quickly  touched  by  storm  or  disaster  wherever  occurring, 
and  prompt  has  been  the  response  to  every  appeal.  No 
stricken  community  has  ever  made  an  appeal  to  this 
city  w  hich  has  not  been  promptly  and  most  generously 
responded  to. 

I  have  endeavored  briefly  to  note  some  of  the  pre- 
dominating traits  in  the  busy  life  of  the  old  city,  and 
have  referred  to  its  great  influence,  power  and  recog- 
nition throughout  the  world.  It  is  not  surprising, 
therefore,  that  the  people  of  the  surrounding  territory, 
who  have  felt  its  influence  and  appreciated  the  beneficent 
results  that  would  flow  from  a  closer  communion,  were 
desirous  of  including  themselves  within  its  domain. 

And  it  naturally  followed  that  these  smaller  com- 
munities thus  adjacent  to  it,  becoming  more  and  more 
closely  identified  with  the  business  life  of  the  city,  and 
possessing  the  same  qualities  and  principles,  fondly 
looked  forward  to  the  time  when  they,  too,  should  par- 
ticipate actively  in  the  glory  of  the  city  by  becoming 
New  Yorkers. 

The  first  people  to  actively  evince  this  spirit  were 
those  of  The  Bronx,  then  a  sparsely  settled  territory, 
and  New  Yorkers  generously  responded  to  its  request 


54 


The  Williamsburg  Bridge 


to  become  a  part  of  the  municipality.  Since  it  became  a 
part  of  New  York  its  territory  has  been  transformed, 
the  bad  physical  conditions  winch  formerly  existed  have 
been  greatly  changed,  transportation  facilities  have  been 
afforded,  many  public  improvements,  such  as  parks  and 
other  evidences  of  enlightened  citizenship,  provided,  and 
it  has  become  a  borough  teeming  with  life  and  business 
activity,  furnishing  comfortable  homes  and  opportuni- 
ties to  the  people  living  within  its  borders.  It  required 
the  material  help  of  old  New  York  to  provide  these 
improvements,  but  she  willingly  extended  it  and  she 
has  been  rewarded  by  having  a  happy  and  prosperous 
people  added  to  her  splendid  citizenship.  Bridges  of  size 
and  beauty  have  since  been  built,  increasing  largely  the 
strength  and  influence  of  the  borough  and  making  the 
interchange  with  the  people  of  old  Manhattan  island 
comfortable  and  convenient. 

The  beneficent  effects  derived  by  The  Bronx,  and  the 
similarity  of  traits  of  the  people  of  Brooklyn  and  New- 
York,  paved  the  way  for  the  consolidation  of  those  two 
cities  into  one  municipality.  We  in  Manhattan  had 
always  recognized  the  sterling  character  of  the  people 
of  Brooklyn,  so  closely  approaching  our  own,  that  we 
naturally  took  kindly  to  the  proposition  thus  advanced. 
Brooklyn  had  always  been  noted  for  its  piety,  its  love 
of  home  comforts  and  its  resistance  to  demoralizing 


The  Greater  New  York  Struggle 


55 


influences.  Brooklynites  as  a  rule  have  always  pos- 
sessed the  natural  desire  to  become  New  Yorkers, 
though  this  is  not  true  of  all  of  them.  These  two  cities 
were  practically  one  community,  with  similar  impulses, 
and  with  closely  allied  business  interests.  And  this 
similarity  of  conditions,  combined  with  these  high  pur- 
poses, gave  great  impetus  to  the  movement  in  behalf 
of  consolidation. 

I  well  remember  the  struggle  which  occurred  at 
Albany  in  behalf  of  the  greater  city,  as  I  had  the  pleasure 
of  introducing  in  the  Senate,  as  a  Senator,  through  the 
courtesy  of  Mr.  Green,  the  original  resolution  providing 
for  the  appointment  of  a  commission  to  determine  the 
feasibility  of  consolidation,  and  subsequently  partici- 
pated in  all  the  legislation  which  led  up  to  the  creation 
of  the  greater  city,  as  I  also  voted  for  the  charter  which 
created  a  government  for  it. 

This  period  of  time  is  so  recent  that  it  is  not  neces- 
sary to  refer  more  than  briefly  to  the  battle  which  raged 
fiercely  in  and  out  of  the  legislative  halls  upon  this  sub- 
ject. There  were  many  in  New  York  and  some  in 
Brooklyn  who  believed  it  was  their  duty  to  patriotically 
oppose  the  founding  of  the  greater  city,  thinking  that 
it  meant  increased  taxation,  the  creation  of  useless  and 
expensive  offices ;  that  it  would  require  extravagant 
appropriations,  and  above  all,  that  the  organization  of 


56 


The  Williamsburg  Bridge 


a  local  government  would  necessarily  be  so  vast,  un- 
wieldly  and  unmanageable  as  to  be  inefficient,  and  tbat 
it  would  result  in  developing  evils  of  administration 
hitherto  unknown,  without,  on  the  other  hand,  giving 
to  these  communities  any  beneficial  results  commen- 
surate with  the  dangers  which  were  liable  to  ensue. 

While  these  well  meaning  people  fought  consolida- 
tion disinterestedly,  yet  beneath  it  all  (  and  which  made 
success  certain),  were  strong,  determined  and  patriotic 
people  insisting  that  as  the  interests  of  these  communities 
were  identical  and  were  practically  one,  a  single  govern- 
ment should  control  the  affairs  of  both. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  politicians  of  both  political 
parties  were  figuring  on  what  the  effect  of  consolidation 
would  be  upon  the  fortunes  of  the  respective  parties  to 
which  they  were  attached.  But  it  finally  ended  in  the 
creation  of  Greater  New  York,  which  included  Rich- 
mond, with  her  natural  commercial  advantages,  her 
splendid  harbor  and  peaceful  citizens,  and  Queens,  with 
her  great  territorial  domain  lying  between  the  East 
river  and  the  ocean,  and  with  her  thriving  villages, 
her  manufacturing  industries  and  her  steadily  growing 
population — all  these  were  embraced  within  the  terri- 
tory of  Greater  New  York. 

It  was  a  great  experiment  to  include  within  this 
vast   territory   a   population,    not   only   engaged  in 


The  Formation  of  the  City 


57 


commercial  pursuits,  trade  and  manufacture,  but 
embracing  farmers  and  gardeners  as  well.  With  such 
a  population,  great  in  numbers,  diversified  in  pursuits, 
accustomed  to  local  village  government,  in  many 
instances  with  suburban  environments,  made  into  an 
urban  population  governed  by  one  administration,  more 
or  less  removed  from  the  immediate  neighborhood,  it 
is  no  wonder  that  Mr.  Hewitt  and  others  at  that  time 
looked  with  feverish  anxiety  and  apprehension  upon 
the  consummation  of  such  an  event. 

The  new  city,  however,  was  formed  and  the  first 
question  naturally  arose  as  to  how  these  peoples,  scat- 
tered throughout  the  boroughs,  could  be  brought  into 
closer  touch  and  made  to  realize  that,  not  only  were 
they  a  part  of  the  great  municipality  in  governmental 
affairs,  but  that  they  were  also  a  physical  part  of  it 
as  well. 

The  first  step  in  the  direction  of  bringing  the  bor- 
oughs together  was  in  construction  of  bridges  over  the 
water  highways  separating  these  boroughs  from  old 
New  York.  And  then  in  anticipation  of  these  conditions 
a  law  was  enacted  which  brought  into  being  finally  this 
great  structure  dedicated  to-day.  As  I  bore  a  leading- 
part  in  the  consolidation  of  this  great  municipality,  so 
also  1  had  the  distinction  in  the  State  Senate  of  having 
advocated  the  creation  of  the  commission  to  supervise 

8 


5* 


The  Williamsburg  Bridge 


the  building  of  this  great  triumph  of  bridge  archi- 
tecture. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  dwell  at  length  upon  the  bene- 
fits that  will  be  accomplished  through  this  great  work, 
or  to  call  attention  to  the  details  of  its  construction,  or 
even  to  speak  of  the  genius  of  the  engineer  who  designed 
it,  or  of  the  army  of  mechanics  in  the  workshops  who 
have  produced  its  various  sections,  nor  of  the  skill  and 
ingenuity  which  enabled  this  great  work  to  be  put 
together.  It  is  sufficient  to  say  that  its  creation  was 
designed  by  an  American  brain,  that  its  various  parts 
were  made  and  welded  together  by  American  hands  and 
that  it  is  an  erection  by  American  workmen. 

The  erection  of  this  bridge  has  already  had  a  bene- 
ficial effect  upon  the  population  on  the  east  side  of  the 
Borough  of  Manhattan.  It  has,  in  fact,  revolutionized 
the  unhappy  conditions  existing  near  the  bridge  in  that 
borough.  It  will  ultimately,  in  my  judgment,  be  the 
means  of  shifting  the  population  from  the  congested 
districts  of  the  east  side — or  at  least  some  of  it — to  more 
healthful  and  better  homes  elsewhere,  with  surround- 
ings more  agreeable,  conditions  more  favorable  and  an 
environment  more  natural  and  wholesome  in  the  out- 
lying suburbs  of  this  and  the  neighboring  borough. 

And  here  to-day,  looking  upon  this  splendid  struct- 
ure,   so   magnificent    in   proportions    and    in  effect, 


The  Bridge  a  Monument 


59 


one  which  will  stand  for  centuries  to  come,  we  must 
regard  it  as  an  ever  continuing-  evidence  of  the  genius 
and  skill  of  the  American  people.  It  stands  spanning 
a  great  river,  the  bosom  of  which  bears  daily  and  nightly 
striking  evidences  of  our  great  commercial  life.  Under 
this  structure  will  pass  for  centuries  to  come  much  of 
the  commerce  of  our  port  and  many  splendid  steam- 
ships will  pass  under  it  plying  between  domestic  and 
foreign  harbors ;  in  a  steady  stream  will  also  pass 
myriads  of  people  seeking  invigoration  and  entertain- 
ment along  the  shores  of  neighboring  commonwealths. 
Upon  it  and  over  it  from  day  to  day  and  from  year  to 
year  will  pass  thousands  of  our  own  people,  happy  and 
contented,  citizens  of  a  great  country,  loyal  to  the 
municipality,  going  to  and  from  their  peaceful  and 
happy  homes  to  the  business  centre  of  this  great  con- 
tinent. There  it  will  stand  a  monument  to  the  genius 
and  industry,  as  well  as  the  progressive  spirit  of  our 
municipality,  ever  mindful,  as  it  always  has  been,  of  the 
comforts  of  its  citizenship,  and  willing  and  anxious  to 
advance  their  interests  to  the  end  that  this  great  city 
may  remain  the  chief  metropolis  of  the  country. 

What  of  the  future  of  Greater  New  York?  We 
who  are  here  to-day  and  who  were  present  at  the  birth 
of  this  great  city,  realize  what  were  the  hopes  and 
anxieties  of  its  founder,  to  whose  undying  memory  the 


6o 


The  Williamsburg  Bridge 


people  of  this  municipality  will  be  forever  faithful.  We 
have  seen  this  great  governmental  power,  as  expressed 
through  the  charter,  created,  have  witnessed  the  ad- 
ministration of  public  affairs  under  it,  and  while  many 
defects  can  be  found  in  the  system  which  experience  has 
gradually  brought  to  the  surface,  and  probably  more 
will  follow,  can  it  not  truly  be  said  that  entering  upon 
this  great  life  it  has  overthrown,  to  some  extent  at 
least,  the  fears  and  apprehensions  of  those  who  were 
opposed  to  its  creation? 

To-day  we  celebrate  the  welding  of  the  second  link 
connecting  these  two  great  boroughs,  as  we  shall  in  a 
short  time  commemorate  the  opening  of  another  bridge 
in  the  Borough  of  Queens  and  an  increased  service 
between  Manhattan  and  Richmond.  Let  us  hope  that 
each  individual  borough  will  realize  that  its  strength 
and  growth  depend  not  only  upon  the  exercise  of  its 
own  influence,  but  upon  the  strength  and  character 
of  the  municipality  as  a  whole.  Thus  will  have  been 
accomplished  a  great  step  in  the  direction  of  unifying 
the  city. 

What  the  future  of  this  great  city  may  be  is  beyond 
the  realm  of  man's  mind  to  foresee.  Broad,  patriotic, 
philanthropic,  it  must  pursue  to  the  end  the  high  mis- 
sion intended  for  it.  It  is  a  city  worthy  of  our  best 
efforts.    Its  great  prestige,  its  commanding  influence, 


Need  for  Good  Government 


61 


its  ever  increasing  power,  should  exact  from  us  in  its 
behalf  our  highest  thoughts  and  best  efforts.  We  are 
entitled  to  the  best  government  that  man  can  devise  to 
be  administered  by  the  best  people  that  can  be  chosen. 
Corruption  and  maladministration  must  be  banished 
from  our  body  politic.  The  evils  of  government  which 
unfortunately  have  been  found  to  exist  in  all  municipali- 
ties must  be  eradicated.  Instruments  of  governmental 
power  must  be  selected  not  only  because  of  party 
influence,  or  attachments — those  should  be  the  least 
of  all  requirements,  indeed,  if  partisanship  should 
prevail  at  all  in  their  selection.  There  should  be 
neither  jealousy  nor  rivalry  between  the  boroughs 
save  that  rivalry  which  tends  to  promote  the  com- 
mon good  of  all. 

I  trust  the  time  will  never  come  when  the  great 
borough  which  I  have  the  honor  to  represent  to-day 
will  ever  be  less  interested  in  the  growth  of  the  other 
boroughs  or  less  ready  to  extend  financial  or  other  help 
to  them.  I  hope  it  will  realize  that  what  helps  one 
helps  all,  and  that  the  development  of  each  is  a  con- 
tribution to  the  whole,  and  that  as  in  the  human  body 
each  organ  should  be  carefully  nurtured  and  defended, 
so  in  this  great  municipal  body  each  organ  as  repre- 
sented by  a  borough  should  be  similarly  guarded  and 
protected. 


62 


The  Williamsburg  Bridge 


To  the  other  boroughs  permit  me  to  say  in  conclu- 
sion, that  as  Rome  w  as  not  built  in  a  day,  neither  can  we 
in  these  modern  times  within  a  brief  period  build  up 
Greater  New  York.  That  must  he  the  result  of  a 
slow,  steady  and  patient  policy,  and  when  exercised,  it 
should  he  for  the  common  good.  Rut  when  in  the 
course  of  time,  after  the  development  of  the  munici- 
pality has  been  gradually  advanced,  the  civilized  world 
will  look,  k-t  us  hope,  upon  a  city  leading  the  way  in 
the  solution  of  those  great  problems  which  concern  all 
municipalities,  with  a  people  contented  and  prosperous, 
with  a  prestige  unsullied  and  untarnished,  with  a  man- 
hood unexcelled  and  with  a  power  for  good  unequalled. 


HON.  TIMOTHY  D.  SULLIVAN 


HON.  PATRICK  H.  MC  CARREN 


Senator  McCarren's  Address 


THE  event  we  celebrate  to-day  is  one  of  great 
material  and  physical  significance  to  the 
people  of  this  section  of  the  Borough  of 
Brooklyn.  The  minds  of  many  of  the  residents  of  our 
section  will  be  carried  back  to  the  time  when  the  agita- 
tion for  the  erection  of  what  is  now  known  as  the  East 
river  bridge  began.  The  public  spirited  business  men 
and  citizens  of  our  community  who  organized  them- 
selves about  thirteen  or  fourteen  years  ago  for  the 
purpose  of  expediting  the  legislation  that  resulted  in 
the  enactment  of  the  law  that  provided  for  the  granting 
of  the  original  charter  for  the  East  river  bridge  and 
its  companion,  must  feel  that  their  work  has  been  repaid 
by  the  consummation  of  the  project  in  which  we  were 
all  interested.  I  need  not  recount  the  various  stages 
through  which  the  legislation  passed,  and  the  amount 
of  detail  and  work  that  was  required  to  bring  about 
the  inception  of  this  bridge  building.  It  is  sufficient 
to  say  that  those  who  foresaw  the  necessity  for  quick 
and  commodious  communication  between  the  island 
of  Manhattan  and  Brooklyn,  realized  that  we  could 
not  postpone  the  work  except  at  the  expense  of  the 


64 


The  Williamsburg  Bridge 


development  of  this  community.  The  geographical  and 
topographical  situation  of  Brooklyn  renders  it  par- 
ticularly available  for  business,  manufacturing  and 
residential  purposes,  and  all  that  is  necessary  to  make 
it  ultimately  the  most  populous  one  of  all  the  boroughs 
of  Greater  New  York  is  the  supplying  of  facilities  for 
traffic  and  pedestrian  communication. 

As  soon  as  the  bridge,  the  opening  of  which  we  cele- 
brate to-day,  is  completed  finally,  with  all  its  facilities 
for  transportation  by  elevated  and  surface  cars  and  its 
roadways  for  vehicle  and  other  traffic,  it  will  furnish  the 
most  impressive  object  lesson  for  the  erection  of  other 
bridges  as  good,  if  not  better,  than  this  one.  The 
improvements  made  in  the  work  of  bridge  building 
render  it  comparatively  easy  to  erect  a  bridge  in  a 
much  shorter  space  of  time  than  was  formerly  required, 
as  illustrated  by  the  difference  of  time  required  to  erect 
the  original  Brooklyn  bridge  and  the  present  one. 

The  march  of  business  northward  in  the  territory 
of  the  old  city  of  New  York  must  of  necessity  redound 
to  the  advantage  of  Brooklyn  and  its  outlying  territory, 
and  whatever  administration  may  be  in  charge  of  the 
affairs  of  our  city,  upon  it  must  devolve  the  task  of 
providing  the  means  of  travel  and  communication  that 
will  be  necessary  for  the  accommodation  of  our  growing 
population.    Statistics  show  us  that  the  population  of 


Mr.  McCarren's  Prediction. 


65 


Brooklyn  increases  one  hundred  per  cent,  about  every 
twenty  years.  With  all  the  advantages  that  can  be 
given  to  Brooklyn  by  proper  modes  of  travel  and  com- 
munication between  it  and  the  island  of  Manhattan, 
I  think  it  will  be  found  that  Brooklyn's  population 
will  double  itself  in  ten  years,  instead  of  twenty,  as 
heretofore. 

This  event  is  calculated  to  arouse  our  sectional 
pride  because  of  the  fact  that  a  study  of  the  trend  of 
travel  from  Manhattan  to  Brooklyn  must  indicate  the 
speedy  population  and  development  of  all  that  section 
of  Brooklyn  lying  directly  eastward  of  Brooklyn's  ter- 
minus of  the  new  bridge. 

In  common  with  all  the  other  citizens  of  our  com- 
munity, I  rejoice  at  this  exemplification  of  the  growth 
and  prosperity  of  our  borough  and  city  and  hail  it  as 
an  evidence  of  the  irresistible  march  of  Greater  New 
York  and  its  boroughs  in  that  direction  that  must  in- 
evitably lead  to  the  position  that  New  York  is  destined 
to  occupy,  namely,  the  first  city  of  the  world. 


9 


The  Benediction 


OUR  help,  O  Lord,  is  in  Thy  holy  name,  who 
has  made  the  heavens  and  the  earth.  Deign, 
therefore,  O  Lord,  to  give  heed  to  our  supplica- 
tions, that  Thou  wouldst  bless  this  bridge  and  all  Thy 
servants  who  shall  pass  thereon,  so  that  amid  the  pros- 
perous as  well  as  the  adverse  things  of  this  world,  they 
may  be  protected  ever  by  Thy  holy  aid.  In  the  name 
of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
Amen. 


The  Building  of  the  Bridge 


A BUSY  river  bisects  the  most  wonderful  city 
that  has  ever  been  built  in  the  history  of 
the  world.  It  is  more  properly  an  estuary 
of  the  sea.  Its  broad  channel  acts  at  one  and  the 
same  time  as  an  impediment  and  an  incentive  to 
imperial  New  York.  The  west  shore  of  this 
so-called  East  river  is  Manhattan  island,  presenting 
on  its  lower  end  the  places  of  industry  and  employment 
of  the  citizens  of  New  York.  Upon  its  east  shore  is 
the  greatest  community  of  homes  extant.  The  East 
river  acts  as  a  natural  barrier  to  hundreds  of  thou- 
sands of  folk  who  have  their  employment  upon  Man- 
hattan island.  It  is  thus  a  great  impediment  to  the 
growth  of  the  present  city  of  New  York. 

Yet  its  broad  channel,  despite  fierce  and  marvellous 
tides,  performs  a  very  great  service  to  this  city  in 
presenting  it  with  many  miles  of  available  water- 
front. It  is  essential  that  this  waterfront,  to  re- 
main available,  must  be  easily  reached  by  shipping 
of  the  largest  class.  Thus  the  handiwork  of  man 
in  overcoming  this  natural  water  barrier  is  put  to  its 
highest  test,  and  his  skill  must  be  exerted  to  the 
best  of  his  ability. 


LEFFERT  L.  BUCK 
CHIEF    ENGINEER   OF   THE    WILLIAMSBURG  BRIDGE 


THE  ENGINEERS   WHO   HELPED  TO  BUILD  THE  BRIDGE 


The  Williamsburg  Bridge 


Until  a  comparatively  recent  date  communication 
between  Brooklyn  and  Manhattan  was  crude  and 
unsatisfactory,  entirely  limited  to  water  craft,  which 
in  turn  had  its  limitations  from  storm  and  ice 
and  fog  and  tide.  Years  of  thought  coupled  with 
steady  and  rapid  advances  in  the  sciences  of  iron 
working  and  cable  weaving  made  the  Brooklyn  bridge 
possible,  and  when  it  was  thrown  open  the  residents 
of  the  two  cities,  that  it  made  as  one,  were  proud 
to  refer  to  it  as  one  of  the  seven  wonders  of  the 
world.  The  bridge  did  not  solve  the  problem  of 
bringing  Brooklyn  across  the  East  river  each  day, 
but  the  genius  of  the  Roeblings,  who  designed  it, 
made  possible  the  other  plans  for  overcoming  the 
stream.  Many  bridge  and  tunnel  schemes  were  put 
into  shape,  and  work  has  been  begun  on  some  of 
them  in  the  twenty  years  that  have  intervened  since 
the  opening  of  the  Brooklyn  bridge.  The  greatest 
of  all  present  aerial  structures,  the  Williamsburg  bridge, 
has  just  been  constructed,  and  its  successful  comple- 
tion, after  many  discouragements,  is  the  present 
occasion  of  much  rejoicing.  It  is  the  greatest  sus- 
pension bridge  in  all  the  world  and  quite  surpasses 
the  former  "seventh  wonder,"  a  mile  and  a  half 
below  it,  not  only  in  size  but  in  the  details  of  its 
construction.  It  represents  the  progress  of  twenty 
years  in  the  science  of  bridge-making. 


The  Beginnings  of  Williamsburg 


71 


The  old  city  of  New  York  had  near  grown  gray 
with  age  and  was  a  comfortable  town  of  61,000 
persons  before  Williamsburg  came  into  its  being. 
At  the  very  opening  of  the  past  century  Richard 
M.  Woodhull,  a  merchant  of  Manhattan,  established 
a  ferry  from  Corlears  Hook  to  the  foot  of  the 
present  North  Second  street  in  Brooklyn.  It  was  a 
horse  ferry  and  a  crude  enough  affair,  with  two  miles 
of  country  travel  through  the  DeLancey  and  Willett 
farms  on  Manhattan  island  before  one  came  to  New 
York  city  itself.  Yet  with  supreme  confidence 
Woodhull  secured  the  services  of  his  army  friend, 
Col.  Williams,  who  surveyed  him  a  city  on  the  east 
bank  of  the  East  River  just  above  Wallabout  Bay. 
The  plan  was  thirty  years  ahead  of  its  day  and 
necessity.  It  then  bankrupted  Woodhull  where  only 
a  little  later  it  would  have  offered  him  the  oppor- 
tunity of  amassing  what  was  in  those  days  a  tre- 
mendous fortune.  The  only  thing  saved  out  of  the 
Woodhull  scheme  was  the  neat  pattern  of  the  streets 
of  the  town  and  the  name  of  Col.  Williams,  its  de- 
signer, which  was  thereafter  linked  with  the  fortunes 
of  Williamsburg. 

The  village  grew  apace.  It  acquired  a  church  in 
1808  and  some  eleven  years  afterwards  a  distillery. 
By  1820  it  was  a  flourishing  hamlet,  with  David 


72 


The  Williamsburg  Bridge 


Dunham's  steam  ferry  running  between  Grand  street 
on  either  side  of  the  East  river,  just  as  farther  down 
the  river  the  truly  famed  Fulton  ferry  served  as  the 
link  between  two  streets  of  the  same  appellation.  It 
became  an  incorporated  village  in  1827  and  its  brisk 
waterfront  looked  upon  the  transformation  of  the 
DeLancey  and  W'illett  farms  into  rows  upon  rows  of 
smug  brick  houses.  Its  growth,  barring  a  few  set- 
backs, the  direct  result  of  over-speculation,  was  rapid 
and  lasting.  In  twenty  years  it  had  become  too  big 
and  cumbersome  for  a  village  government  and  the 
short-lived  city  of  Williamsburg  came  into  existence 
in  1852. 

It  was  a  (plaint  little  town  in  those  days,  and  even 
now  a  chance  rambler  about  the  streets  adjacent  to 
the  Brooklyn  plaza  of  the  new  bridge  may  now  and 
then  come  to  some  old  house,  half  hidden  between 
tenements  and  warehouses,  that  must  once  have  had 
gardens  and  rows  of  shade  trees  about  its  walls, 
or  he  may  perceive  some  church,  quaint  in  its  old- 
time  architecture,  which  seems  to  mourn  the  lost 
companionship  of  green  fields  and  broad  pastures. 
These  are  the  lingering  traces  of  an  earlier  day.  They 
take  the  rambler  in  his  thoughts  back  fifty  years  to 
old  Williamsburg,  which  was  becoming  closely  knit 
to  Manhattan  by  the  ferries  from  Grand  street  of  that 
island  to  Broadway  and  Grand  street  in  Williamsburg. 


Growths  in  Population 


73 


These  two  ferries  were  already  important  arteries  of 
travel  and  since  then  their  patronage  has  grown,  not 
lessened,  despite  the  constant  addition  of  ferry  routes 
from  the  foot  of  Broadway,  Brooklyn. 

After  two  years  of  separate  existence  as  a  city, 
Williamsburg  in  1854  was  made  part  and  parcel  of 
the  old  city  of  Brooklyn.  Whether  this  step  was 
premature,  as  has  been  urged  by  various  historians, 
or  was  not,  as  has  been  insistently  stated  by  their 
opponents,  is  immaterial  here.  The  change  was  made 
and  the  rapid  growth  of  Williamsburg  was  soon  after 
checked.  For  a  time  this  retarded  progress  was 
charged  to  the  depressing  influences  that  the  Civil 
war  brought  upon  the  country.  Afterwards  this  view 
was  found  to  be  erroneous.  To  properly  understand 
the  whole  matter  of  growth  it  will  be  wise  at  this 
moment  to  study  some  comparative  increases  of 
population. 

The  city  of  Brooklyn  was  incorporated  in  1834.  It 
practically  doubled  its  population  in  each  of  the  de- 
cades from  1820  to  1840.  It  was  at  this  last  date  no 
mean  city  and  had  about  stepped  into  the  position  of 
third  city  in  the  Union  in  point  of  size.  This  place  it 
held  for  more  than  fifty  years  thereafter.  From  1840 
to  1850  the  increase  was  greatly  enlarged  and  the 
growth  in  population  was  about  175  per  cent.  This 

10 


74 


The  Williamsburg  Bridge 


growth  was  maintained  in  the  succeeding  ten  years. 
Every  city  in  the  country  suffered  a  set-back  through 
the  Civil  war,  and  its  increase  in  size  for  the  decade 
that  covered  that  conflict  was  only  50  per  cent.  But 
the  war  over  and  the  country  once  more  in  tranquil 
progress  Brooklyn  showed  only  75  per  cent,  of  gain  in 
population  from  1870  to  1880.  In  the  two  decades 
from  that  day  to  the  present  the  growth  has  averaged 
40  per  cent. 

Transportation  facilities  have  hurt  Brooklyn's  growth 
and  the  lack  of  proper  devices  for  handling  large 
masses  of  people  across  the  river  undoubtedly  did 
much  to  shut  off  the  progress  of  that  city  as  well  as 
the  increase  of  the  large  Williamsburg  section  at  about 
the  time  of  the  opening  of  the  war.  Some  slight 
improvement  is  to  be  seen  upon  the  completion  of  the 
Brooklyn  bridge,  and  the  opening  of  the  Williamsburg 
bridge  will  undoubtedly  work  a  like  improvement  in 
the  growth  of  the  Eastern  District  which  should  add 
greatly  to  the  ratio  of  increase  in  Brooklyn's  population 
during  the  present  decade.  The  enormous  dispropor- 
tion of  the  growth  of  Brooklyn  to  that  of  Harlem, 
for  instance,  may  be  shown  in  a  single  citation.  The 
population  of  the  old  Twelfth  ward  of  New  York  City 
increased  200  per  cent,  from  1880  to  1890  or,  in  actual 
figures,  from  82,000  to  245,000.    This  growth  was 


Brooklyn  to  be  Protected 


75 


stimulated  by  the  completion  of  the  elevated  railroad 
and  similar  growths  in  upper  Manhattan  and  The 
Bronx  may  be  anticipated  when  the  subway  begins 
the  operation  of  its  trains  a  few  months  hence.  The 
Williamsburg    bridge    and    its    neighbors    that  are 


THE   BROOKLYN  ANCHORAGE 


already  under  construction  and  the  East  river  subway 
tunnel  will  serve  to  prevent  these  growths  from 
becoming  disproportionate  and  disadvantageous  to 
Brooklyn. 

The  sudden  stoppage  of  the  increase  of  the  population 
and  the  failure  of  old  conditions  of  expansion  to  show 


76 


The  Williamsburg  Bridge 


themselves,  once  re-construction  and  the  panicky  days 
of  the  seventies  were  well  past,  were  puzzling  to  the 
Williamsburg-  folk.  When  the  Brooklyn  bridge  was 
finished  and  Central  Brooklyn  and  South  Brooklyn 
began  to  receive  practically  all  the  growth  that  resulted 
therefrom,  their  view  of  the  situation  was  illuminated. 
The  idea  of  building  a  bridge  for  Williamsburg  had 
been  in  the  minds  of  some  of  its  citizens  for  a  long 
time.  Two  powerful  arguments  were  now  presented  to 
them  and,  with  the  hard  data  of  increases  of  popu- 
lation in  several  localities,  the  bridge  question  was 
taken  up  and  not  thereafter  allowed  to  die.  The  entire 
district  was  educated  to  believe  that  the  bridge  was 
its  salvation.  It  looked  for  leadership  to  bring  the 
plan  to  a  successful  end. 

Even  before  the  Brooklyn  bridge  was  opened,  in  the 
spring  of  1884  the  bridge  agitation  in  W  illiamsburg 
was  coming  to  a  head.  A  meeting  was  held  May  3, 
1883,  at  the  house  of  Ambrose  Snow,  11  Bedford 
avenue,  to  initiate  a  movement  for  the  improvement. 
Among  those  who  gathered  at  that  time  to  further 
the  project  were  Col.  Andrew  D.  Baird,  William  H. 
Gaylor,  ex-Judge  George  Thompson,  Bernard  Peters, 
Frederick  Scholes,  George  H.  Fisher  and  William  B. 
Hurd.  Nothing  of  a  definite  character  was  accom- 
plished   and    the    matter    lay    dormant    for  several 


Early  Bridge  Legislation 


77 


years.  It  was  not  until  1887  that  it  received  the 
consideration  of  the  legislature.  In  the  spring  of  that 
year,  Assemblyman  Thomas  Farrell,  of  the  old  Sixth 
district,  introduced  a  bill  designed  to  promote  the  con- 
struction of  a  bridge  or  tunnel  at  approximately  the 
present  site  of  the  Williamsburg  bridge.  The  bill  was 
passed.  Tt  was  an  indefinite  sort  of  instrument  and 
not  being  seconded  by  constructive  measures,  brought 
no  results.  It  was  two  years  later  when  State  Senator 
Patrick  H.  McCarren,  who  as  a  boy  worked  as  a 
cooper  in  old  Williamsburg  and  who  loved  the  old 
town  and  all  its  turns,  started  his  long  battle  in  the 
Albany  legislature  for  the  building  of  the  bridge.  He 
found  that  he  had  not  only  the  powerful  ferry  interests 
to  fight,  but  also  that  the  old  city  of  New  York  was 
unwilling  to  assume  one  cent  of  the  cost  of  the  proposed 
structure.  This  early  McCarren  measure  provided 
that  Brooklyn  should  pay  two  dollars  where  New  York 
paid  one  for  the  span,  but  it  was  defeated.  It  was 
followed  by  a  host  of  bridge  measures  at  Albany  until 
the  Williamsburg  folk  began  to  feel  assured  that  in 
some  mysterious  way  or  other  they  would  receive  a 
bridge  from  all  the  chaos.  Most  of  the  proposed  en- 
actments were  devised  with  some  private  end.  They 
all  failed  one  by  one  and  Senator  McCarren,  not 
daunted  or  dismayed,  began  to  look  to  a  new  quarter 
for  the  accomplishment  of  his  purpose. 


78 


The  Williamsburg  Bridge 


The  elevated  railways  of  Brooklyn  had,  fourteen 
years  ago  in  the  minds  of  the  men  that  then  owned 
them,  nearly  reached  the  limits  of  their  possibilities. 
Frederick  Uhlmann,  who  was  at  that  time  a  large 
owner  of  these  properties,  foresaw  that  their  only  hope 
for  extensive  development  lay  in  their  being  brought, 
not  only  to  the  soil  of  Manhattan  island,  but  in  being 
placed  for  a  long  enough  distance  thereon  to  serve  a 
considerable  manufacturing  and  business  district.  It 
was  his  idea  that  the  best  service,  so  far  as  the  inter- 
ests of  Kings  county  were  concerned,  would  be  ob- 
tained by  a  railroad  crossing  the  East  river  near  the 
Grand  street  ferry  and  continuing  across  Manhattan 
island  to  West  street.  The  Brooklyn  Union  Elevated 
railroad  owned  a  good  structure  the  entire  length  of 
Broadway  in  that  city  which  connected  with  the  other 
lines  of  its  system  and  extended  well  out  upon  the 
backbone  of  Long  Island.  Mr.  Uhlmann,  with  the 
aid  of  O.  F.  Nichols  and  some  other  well  known  en- 
gineers, planned  not  only  an  East  river  bridge  at  Grand 
street  ferry  but  a  returning  bridge  crossing  the  river 
from  a  point  near  Gouverneur  slip  to  a  location  in 
Brooklyn  just  south  of  the  Navy  Yard,  where  an  easy 
connection  could  be  made  with  the  existing  elevated 
structure  in  Hudson  avenue.  Such  a  scheme  is  very 
similar  to  the  loop  service  which  has  been  proposed 


The  East  River  Bridge  Company 


79 


from  the  Brooklyn  bridge  to  the  Williamsburg  bridge 
along  Centre  and  Delancey  streets,  Manhattan,  and 
which  is  so  earnestly  advocated  by  the  Brooklyn  Rapid 
Transit  interests  at  the  present  moment. 

The  plan  for  the  two  bridges  as  devised  by  Mr. 
Uhlmann  was  carried  into  the  legislature  in  the  winter 
of  1890-91  and  met  with  a  lively  opposition,  led  again  by 
the  ferry  interests.    This  served  to  defeat  the  scheme 


THE   MANHATTAN   SHORE  PREVIOUS   TO   STARTING  THE  BRIDGE 


and  it  was  not  until  the  following  session  that  Senator 
Patrick  H.  McCarren,  of  Williamsburg,  and  Assem- 
blyman Timothy  D.  Sullivan,  of  Manhattan,  who  were 
fathering  the  project,  were  able  to  secure  a  favorable 
legislative  enactment.  They  achieved  the  passage  on 
March  9,  1892,  of  the  McCarren  bill,  known  as  Chap- 
ter 102  of  the  laws  of  that  year,  which  incorporated 
the  East  River  Bridge  company  for  the  purpose  of 


8o 


The  Williamsburg  Bridge 


building  the  two  bridges.  The  structure  that  followed 
the  line  of  the  Grand  street  ferry  must  of  necessity 
be  a  suspended  span  and  was  to  carry,  in  addition  to 
the  elevated  railroad  tracks,  carriage  and  foot-ways 
which  were  to  curve  on  the  Manhattan  approach  un- 
derneath the  elevated  tracks  and  approach  the  surface 
on  the  north  side  of  Grand  street  between  Sheriff  and 
YYillett  streets.  The  elevated  railway  was  to  con- 
tinue across  Manhattan  island  to  West  street,  going 
over  the  structures  of  the  Manhattan  railway.  A 
branch  elevated  line  was  to  have  been  deflected  at  the 
Manhattan  approach  and,  following  Scammel  street, 
was  to  have  recrossed  the  East  river  on  the  second 
bridge  to  Hudson  avenue,  Brooklyn.  This  structure 
could  be  made  a  cantilever  span  if  the  company  so 
wished  and  was  designed  to  carry  elevated  trains 
alone. 

The  plan  for  building  the  Brooklyn  elevated  rail- 
roads across  Manhattan  island  killed  the  whole  scheme. 
Tremendous  interests  fought  the  extension  of  a  Brook- 
lyn transportation  line  to  the  Hudson  river  and  the 
project  was  strangled  in  the  courts  early  in  1894. 
Nevertheless  the  plans  for  the  bridges  had  tremen- 
dously excited  all  the  folk  of  staid  old  Williamsburg, 
and  the  downfall  of  one  project  was  only  the  signal 
for  renewed  public  sentiment  favoring  the  building  of 


The  East  River  Bridge  Commission 


81 


the  bridge.  Senator  George  A.  Owens  of  Williamsburg 
led  the  ranks  of  those  who  urged  the  necessity  of  the 
improvement  and  he  found  in  Timothy  D.  Sullivan,  as 
Senator  McCarren  had  found  him,  a  most  loyal  friend 
and  fellow-fighter.  Other  interests  in  Williamsburg 
were  awakened.  The  executive  committee  of  the  People's 
bank  considered  the  plan  quite  within  its  province  and 
with  the  aid  of  Congressman  Charles  G.  Bennett,  the 
two  Albany  legislators  just  mentioned  and  a  host  of 
loyal  helpers,  the  People's  Bridge  Association  was 
brought  into  being  on  April  2,  1895.  Committees  of 
workers  from  this  association,  which  has  its  echoes  of 
to-day  in  the  many  boards  of  trade  and  business  men's 
organizations  of  Williamsburg  and  Bushwick,  formu- 
lated new  bridge  plans  with  celerity  and  that  very  spring 
the  matter  was  again  taken  to  Albany.  Quick  legislative 
results  were  noted.  Before  that  month  of  April  had 
come  to  its  close  a  bill  drawn  by  Mayor  Schieren  of 
Brooklyn  and  introduced  by  Senator  Owens  had  been 
put  through  Senate  and  Assembly  providing  for  the 
appointment  of  an  East  River  Bridge  commission  by 
the  mayors  of  the  former  twin  cities  of  New  York  and 
Brooklyn.  This  act  was  approved  by  Governor  Levi 
P.  Morton  on  the  twenty-seventh  of  the  following  month 
and  it  became  Chapter  789  of  the  laws  of  1895.  Hardly 
had  the  ink  of  the  Governor's  signature  dried  before 

11 


82 


The  Williamsburg  Bridge 


the  mayors  of  the  two  cities  were  acting  under  its 
provisions. 

Mayor  Strong,  of  New  York,  appointed  Salem  H. 
Wales,  Francis  B.  Thurber  and  Richard  Deeves  as 
his  members  of  the  commission.  Mayor  Schieren,  of 
Brooklyn,  who  was  one  of  the  most  enthusiastic  pro- 
moters of  the  bridge  scheme,  named  as  his  appointees 
Andrew  D.  Baird,  James  A.  Sperry  and  Henry  Bat- 
terman  of  that  city.  The  commission  organized  itself 
without  delay  and  elected  as  its  first  board  of  officers, 
Andrew  D.  Baird,  president;  Salem  H.  Wales,  vice- 
president  ;  Francis  B.  Thurber,  secretary,  and  Richard 
Deeves,  treasurer.  It  chose  as  its  counsel  ex-Judge 
William  G.  Choate,  of  New  York,  and  H.  C.  M.  In- 
graham,  of  Brooklyn.  The  bridge  was  officially  named 
the  East  river  bridge.  Since  that  time  the  more  grace- 
ful and  distinctive  title  of  Williamsburg  bridge  has 
been  substituted. 

The  East  River  Bridge  commission — which  included 
as  ex-officio  members  the  mayors  of  the  two  cities — 
found  that  among  its  duties  as  provided  by  the  legis- 
lative enactment  was  the  purchase  by  mutual  consent 
or  by  condemnation  from  any  corporation  that  should 
possess  a  valid  charter,  the  right  of  that  corporation 
to  construct  such  a  bridge  as  was  then  contemplated, 
across  the  East  river.  This  brought  the  East  River 
Bridge  company  with  its  unquestioned  rights  before 


Mr.  Uhlmann  Sells  his  Rights 


83 


the  eyes  of  the  commissioners.  Mr.  Uhlmann  made  a 
flat  or  upset  price  of  $650,000  for  the  company's  fran- 
chise to  build  a  bridge  from  Grand  street,  Manhattan, 
to  Broadway,  Brooklyn.  He  also  made  a  conditional 
price  of  $250,000  in  consideration  of  which  the  com- 


BUII.DING  A  CAISSON  ON  SHORE 


mission  would  agree  that  the  trains  of  the  Brooklyn 
Union  Elevated  railroad  should  forever  be  allowed  to 
cross  the  bridge  free  of  all  tolls.  The  commission 
rejected  both  offers  and  threatened  condemnation  pro- 
ceedings. Mr.  Uhlmann  finally  offered  for  $200,000 
the  rights  of  the  East  River  Bridge  company.  Rather 
than    delay    the    completion    of    the    much  needed 


84 


The  Williamsburg  Bridge 


improvement  by  a  two  years'  legal  tangle,  the  com- 
mission accepted  this  offer  and  thereafter  proceeded 
with  a  free  hand  and  no  interference. 

It  selected  as  its  chief  engineer  Leffert  L.  Buck, 
to  whom  was  accorded  the  honor  of  designing  the  new 
bridge.  Mr.  Buck  was  a  civil  and  mechanical  engineer 
of  vast  experience.  He  had  planned  and  built  some 
of  those  marvellous  Perm  ian  railways  that  one  moment 
pierce  the  very  hearts  of  the  mountains  of  the  Andes 
and  the  next  are  carried  over  chilly  chasms  on  the 
most  difficult  bridge  construction  known  to  the  his- 
tory of  engineering.  He  had  built  two  of  the  great 
bridges  at  Niagara  Falls.  In  every  way  he  seemed 
equipped  for  the  work  set  before  him  within  this  city. 
He  attacked  his  problem  with  vigor  and  with  the  skill 
that  is  partly  born  of  long  experience.  O.  F.  Nichols, 
to  whom  reference  has  already  been  made,  became  his 
assistant.  The  engineers  were  appointed  in  August, 
1895.  Within  a  very  few  weeks  they  were  at  work 
on  the  studies,  surveys  and  preliminary  plans. 

The  legislature  at  Albany  had  protected  the  Broad- 
way ferries  in  Brooklyn  by  statute,  and  in  order  to 
avoid  the  destruction  of  the  great  Havemeyer  sugar 
refineries  in  Williamsburg,  practically  one  block  alone 
was  left  for  the  bridge  landing  there.  This  extended 
along  the  water  front  from  South  Fifth  to  South  Sixth 


The  Location  of  the  Bridge 


85 


street  and  was  occupied  by  one-story  warehouses.  The 
plot  was  purchased  two  years  later  from  the  American 
Sugar  Refining  company  for  $350,000  and  to-day  is 
directly  beneath  the  Brooklyn  end-span  of  the  bridge. 
It  was  found  impossible  to  build  the  bridge  directly 
across  the  river  from  this  necessary  plot  in  Williams- 
burg so  as  to  give  the  shortest  possible  water-span 


THE  CAISSON  READY  TO  LAUNCH 


without  interfering  with  ferry  property  on  the  Man- 
hattan side.  The  interests  there,  however,  were  finally 
conciliated  by  an  exchange  of  realty  and  the  bridge 
brought  across  the  stream  in  the  shortest  way,  the 
north  side  of  the  structure  just  touching  the  south 
side  of  Delancey  street.    When  the  original  plan  of 


86 


The  Williamsburg  Bridge 


the  old  East  River  Bridge  company  to  bring  roadways 
and  footpath  to  the  Grand  street  terminus  between 
Sheriff  and  Willett  streets  had  been  abandoned  by  the 
commissioners  because  of  the  sharp  curve  and  steep 
grades  that  it  involved,  the  route  of  the  proposed 
bridge  was  straight  save  for  a  slight  curve  at  the 
extreme  eastern  end  of  the  structure.  This  curve 
was  for  a  long  time  on  the  working  plans  of  the  com- 
mission. Finally  the  desire  for  an  absolutely  straight 
bridge  from  end  to  end  coupled  with  the  plans  for  the 
Brooklyn  plaza  made  this  kink  undesirable  and  the 
legislative  action  was  obtained  that  enabled  the  com- 
mission to  remove  it. 

Congressman  Bennett's  attention  was  largely  fixed 
upon  obtaining  the  consent  of  the  War  Department 
at  Washington  to  the  building  of  the  bridge  and  this 
was  secured  upon  certain  conditions  imposed  by  the 
United  States  Harbor-Line  board,  which  has  direct 
charge  of  such  matters.  That  body  decreed  that  the 
height  of  the  bridge  should  be  the  same  as  that  of 
the  Brooklyn  bridge,  135  feet  in  the  clear  above  mean 
high  water  of  spring  tides,  but  extending  for  a  dis- 
tance of  400  feet  in  the  center  of  the  water-span. 
This  400  foot  distance  was  probably  reached  by  con- 
sidering the  plane  of  the  clearance  heights  of  the  East 
river  bridges  as  a  triangle,  135  feet  above  high  water, 


The  Bridge  Pious  Filed 


87 


with  its  apex  at  the  middle  of  the  old  bridge  and 
its  base  at  the  Ravenswood  bridge  over  Blackwell's 
island,  where  the  135  feet  of  clearance  is  equal  to  the 
full  width  of  the  river. 

This  arbitrary  figure,  fixed  by  the  army  engineers, 
was  a  factor  in  determining  the  grade  of  the  bridge 
on  railroads,  paths,  and  roadways.  The  grade  on  the 
roadways  and  the  surface  car  tracks  was  fixed  at 
approximately  3  per  cent.,  and  this  carried  the  straight 
approaches  to  a  point  200  feet  east  of  Driggs  avenue, 
Brooklyn,  and  just  east  of  Clinton  street,  Manhattan. 
The  ground  being  about  20  feet  lower  at  both  ter- 
minals than  was  the  case  at  the  location  of  the  Brook- 
lyn bridge,  the  Williamsburg  bridge  is  about  1,200 
feet  longer  than  its  predecessor  or  approximately 
7,200  feet  over  all. 

These  details  kept  Mr.  Buck  and  his  associates  busy 
for  long  weeks  and  months  while  the  diamond  drill, 
which  bores  with  wonderful  accuracy,  was  making 
soundings  at  the  sites  selected  for  the  foundations  of 
towers  and  anchorages.  The  general  plans  for  the 
structure  were  finally  filed,  on  August  19,  1896,  in  the 
Departments  of  Public  Works  in  each  of  the  twin  cities. 
They  had  been  carefully  prepared  under  the  oversight 
of  Mr.  Buck  and  bore  the  official  endorsement  of  the 
commission.    Based  upon  these  plans  the  cost  of  the 


ss 


The  Williamsburg  Bridge 


proposed  bridge  was  then  estimated  at  $7,000,000  and 
five  years  were  allotted  for  the  completion  of  the  work. 
This  time  allowance  was  exceeded  by  a  single  twelve- 
month and  this  excess  was  entirely  caused  by  a  some- 
what disastrous  fire  near  the  completion  of  the  work 
and  vexatious  delays  in  the-  tower  building  and  cable 
weaving  over  which  the  bridge  engineers  and  the  com- 
missioners had  practically  no  control. 

The  filing  of  the  plans  was  followed  by  a  prepara- 
tion for  the  awarding  of  the  contracts  for  construction 
which,  as  in  all  enterprises  of  this  magnitude,  were 
separately  allotted  for  different  phases  of  the  work; 
the  foundations  of  each  of  the  towers,  the  construction 
of  each  of  the  masonry  anchorages,  the  steel  framing 
of  the  towers,  the  stringing  of  the  cables,  the  building 
of  the  end-spans  and  centre-span  and  the  erection  of 
the  steel  latticed  anchorages.  Best  progress  was  made 
in  the  preparation  of  the  detailed  plans  and  specifica- 
tions for  the  Manhattan  tower,  and  in  September,  1896, 
advertisements  were  made  for  proposals  for  the  erec- 
tion of  that  first  step  in  the  construction  of  the  Wil- 
liamsburg bridge.  Twelve  well-known  contractors 
responded  and  from  them  the  award  was  finally  made 
to  P.  H.  Flynn,  of  Brooklyn,  the  lowest  bidder,  for 
$327,000.  He  commenced  preparations  at  once  upon 
the  awarding  of  the  contract  on  October  28.  On 


The  First  Work  of  Construction 


89 


November  7  the  first  actual  construction  work  on  the 
new  bridge  was  recorded,  but  so  quietly  was  the  work 
prosecuted  at  that  time  that  many  and  many  a  citizen 
crossing  the  East  river  at  that  point  on  a  stumpy  ferry- 
boat did  not  realize  that  the  fleet  of  noisy  tugs  and  dull 
barges  which  surrounded  a  group  of  derricks  repre- 
sented the  sinking  caisson  of  the  north  pier  of  the  Man- 
hattan tower. 

The  caisson  system  is  practically  the  only  method 
of  securing  the  under-water  work  on  bridge  construc- 
tion on  a  river  of  depth  and  it  was  successfully  prose- 
cuted in  the  building  of  the  Williamsburg  bridge.  The 
Western  river  type  of  caisson  was  chosen  for  work 
and  the  structures  were  built  of  wood,  the  Manhattan 


i.Ai  xi  m\(;   \  (  \isson 


12 


9°  The  Williamsburg  Bridge 

pair  being-  stiffened  with  steel  trusses  on  account  of 
the  great  depth  of  mud  in  which  they  were  to  be  sunk 
In  these  caissons  the  roof  of  the  working  chamber  is 


TOWING  THE  CAISSON  INTO  ITS  FINAL  POSITION 


comparatively  thin  and  then  they  are  built  up  with 
timber  to  a  considerable  height  and  filled  in  with  con- 
crete upon  which  the  masonry  rests  at  what  is  the 
normal  bed  of  the  river.  The  caissons — the  men  work- 
ing like  water-rats  in  the  shallow  air-locked  chambers 
— are  sunk  to  a  considerable  distance  below  the  normal 
bed  or  until  they  rest  almost,  if  not  completely,  on  the 
solid  rock.  The  maximum  depth  in  this  marvellous 
system  of  under-water  burrowing,  which  has  called 
admiration  to  American  engineering  methods  from  all 
quarters  of  the  world,  was  no  feet  at  the  northwest 
corner  of  the  north  caisson  on  the  Brooklyn  side.  The 


The  Wages  of  the  "Sand-Hogs" 


9i 


excavation  was  carried  about  10  feet  below  the  metal 
cutting  edge  of  the  caisson  at  that  point.  The  air  for 
the  men  who  were  imprisoned  beneath  these  great 
structures  as  they  worked  with  pick  and  shovel  upon 
the  bottom  of  the  river,  was  forced  by  two  duplex 
compressors  and  was  cooled  in  summer  by  being  passed 
through  about  3,000  feet  of  pipe  placed  beneath  the 
surface  of  the  water  in  the  river.  None  of  the  men, 
who  enjoy  the  entertaining  sobriquet  of  "sand-hog" 
and  worked  in  the  caissons,  suffered  serious  injuries. 
They  were  paid  according  to  a  scale  of  wages  made 
by  mutual  agreement  with  their  employers  and  received 
remuneration  for  their  work  after  this  scale : 

For  all  depths  up  to  55  feet,  $2.75  for  eight 

hours  work. 
For  depths  from  55  to  70  feet,  $2.75  for  six 

hours  work. 
For  depths  from  70  to  80  feet,  $3.00  for  two 

hours  work. 
For  depths  from  80  to  90  feet,  $3.25  for  one 

and  a  half  hours  work. 
For  depths  over  90  feet,  $3.50  for  one  and  a 

half  hours  work. 

The  "sand-hogs"  were  not  permitted  to  work  more 
than  the  allotted  time  each  day  and  divided  the  work 
into  two  shifts  with  an  hour's  rest  between  shifts.  The 


The  Williamsburg  Bridge 


engineers  and  contractors  who  built  the  tower  foun- 
dations found  it  very  difficult  to  get  enough  experienced 
men  to  work  at  the  great  depths  to  keep  the  enterprise 
moving  continuously. 


THE  CAISSON   ANCHORED  AND  READY  TO  SINK 


While  Contractor  Flynn  was  making  these  first 
steps  upon  the  actual  work  for  the  big  structure,  the 
East  River  Bridge  commission  was  exercising  its 
second  great  function.  It  not  only  had  to  build  the 
bridge  but  it  also  had  been  empowered  by  the  legis- 
lature to  secure  the  land  upon  which  it  was  to  stand. 
It  was  decided  to  leave  a  clear  space  on  both  sides  of 
the  bridge  of  at  least  32  feet  in  order  to  protect  the 


Acquiring  the  Land 


93 


structure  from  fire  or  accident  to  adjoining  buildings. 
This  necessitated  the  acquisition  of  property,  150  feet 
in  width,  along  the  south  side  of  Delancey  street,  Man- 
hattan, from  the  river's  edge  back  to  Clinton  street, 
and  a  similar  broad  strip  extending  back  into  Williams- 


PLACING  THE  MASONRY  ON  A  CAISSON 


burg  from  the  shore.  Plazas  were  also  planned  at 
each  of  the  terminals  of  the  bridge.  The  Brooklyn 
plaza  is  already  cleared  of  buildings,  effecting  a  com- 
plete transformation  of  that  central  portion  of  Wil- 
liamsburg. The  Manhattan  plaza  is  smaller  and  is 
now  in  condemnation  proceedings.  The  commission 
worked  for  a  time  in  land  acquisition  as  best  it  might. 
Many  times  land  purchases  were  made  at  private 
sale  where  figures  were  reasonable  and  condemnation 


94 


77/c  Williamsburg  Bridge 


proceedings  obviously  would  be  expensive  as  well  as 
fraught  with  delay  for  the  enterprise.  In  these  cases  it 
found  that  property  owners  realized  that  the  inevitable 
in  the  shape  of  a  great  bridge  was  about  to  descend 
upon  their  realty.    After  a  time,  however,  the  courts 


FINISHING  THE  MANHATTAN  PIERS 


interfered  with  this  simple  and  business-like  method 
of  progressing  with  the  work  and  the  commission  was 
compelled  to  acquire  all  of  its  realty  through  condem- 
nation. The  buildings  that  stood  upon  the  needed  land 
were  auctioned  off  upon  conditions  of  quick  removal  and 
formed  rare  prizes  for  the  house-wrecking  concerns 
in  which  the  city  abounds.  In  this  ruthless  way,  which 
may  only  be  compared  with  the  devastation  wrought 
by  a  tornado  or  a  sweeping  fire,  homes  that  sheltered 


Activities  in  1897 


95 


families  for  generations,  corner  stores  that  were  land- 
marks, places  of  worship  that  had  become  endeared 
to  the  members  of  their  congregations  were  taken  off 
the  earth  and  into  history.  The  bridge  was  no  respecter 
of  persons  nor  of  property.  Anything  that  stood  in  the 
path  of  its  straight  course  suffered.  In  one  case  the 
stage  of  a  Brooklyn  theatre  occupied  a  part  of  the  strip 
of  land  needed  for  the  approach  on  that  side  of  the 
river.  It  was  demolished  at  the  fire-wall  which  divided 
the  proscenium  from  the  stage  and  the  opening  in 
which  the  drop  curtain  hung  was  bricked  up.  It  is 
now  proposed  to  utilize  the  structure,  which  has  its 
auditorium  still  intact,  as  a  lecture  hall.  Other  changes, 
unique,  sweeping,  devastating,  were  made  on  both  sides 
of  the  river  as  soon  as  the  condemnation  commissioners 
announced  their  rulings. 

The  summer  of  1897  saw  great  activities  at  the 
site  of  the  Williamsburg  bridge.  The  stone  masonry 
and  the  concrete  work  on  the  north  pier  of  the  Man- 
hattan side,  where  the  initial  caisson  had  been  sunk, 
were  being  laid  and  its  twin  caisson  launched.  Early 
spring  saw  advertising  for  bids  for  the  construction 
of  the  Brooklyn  tower  foundations.  There  was  lively 
response  to  the  invitation  of  the  commissioners  and 
nine  contractors  submitted  offers  for  the  work.  The 
award  was  finally  made  in  June  to  Colin  McLean,  of 


96 


The  Williamsburg  Bridge 


THE  PIERS  RECEIVE  THEIR  TOP  COURSES 


Manhattan,  the  lowest  bidder.  His  contract  figure  of 
$507,187  was  accepted. 

Mr.  McLean,  whose  interests  were  soon  merged  with 
those  of  the  Degnon-McLean  construction  company, 
commenced  his  work  promptly.  The  Brooklyn  caissons 
were  erected  on  the  shore  of  the  river  upon  the  prop- 
erty purchased  from  the  American  Sugar  Refining 
company,  just  as  the  Manhattan  caissons  had  been 
built  on  the  shore  and  afterwards  launched.  The 
Brooklyn  caisson  problem  was  more  difficult,  however. 
There  is  an  enormous  sweep  of  current  and  an  acceler- 
ated force  of  tide  at  the  very  point  where  it  was  pro- 
posed to  sink  them.  River  pilots  know  that  turn  just 
above  the  Wallabout  and  avoid  it,  while  the  captains  of 


The  Brooklyn  C  aissons  Placed 


97 


the  ferry  lines  that  land  at  the  foot  of  Broadway, 
Williamsburg,  often  have  difficulty  in  bringing  their 
stubby  craft  to  a  landing  there. 

The  caissons  were  made  large  enough  to  allow  for  a 
slight  misplacement  by  the  stress  of  tide  and  current 
and  yet  to  permit  an  accurate  placing  of  the  masonry 
of  the  tower.  The  south  caisson  was  launched  on 
September  30,  1897.  A  fleet  of  tugboats,  taking 
advantage  of  the  lull  at  changing  tides,  placed  the 
unwieldly  structure  with  some  little  trouble.  It  was 
finally  anchored  in  position  with  a  success  that  had 
hardly  been  expected  and,  once  protected  by  a  high 
cofferdam,  the  anticipation  of  trouble  at  that  point  of 


THE  FOUNDATIONS  FOR  AN  ANCHORAGE 


"3 


98  The  Williamsburg  Bridge 

the  bridge-building  ceased.  It  was  a  comparatively 
easy  matter  to  place  the  north  caisson  in  the  following 
December,  for  the  south  caisson  with  the  beginnings  of 
the  masonry  made  a  firm  protector  and  barrier  against 
the  brunt  of  river  force. 

Soon  after  this  north  caisson  had  been  sunk  there 
came  to  the  two  cities  upon  the  shore  complete  political 


THi:    NEARLY   COMPLETED  ANCHORAGE 


changes  which  had  their  reflection  in  the  government 
of  the  embryo  bridge.  Old  boundaries  were  swept  away, 
Brooklyn  buried  her  individuality  as  a  city  and  the 
Greater  New  York,  which  had  been  a  dream  of  far- 
sighted  publicists  for  a  score  or  two  of  years,  became 
at  last  a  reality.  The  boundary  changes  on  January  1, 
1898,  were  accompanied  by  a  change  in  administration 


The  Second  Bridge  Commission 


99 


which  resulted  in  radical  differences  in  the  personnel  of 
the  East  River  Bridge  commission.  The  original  board, 
which  had  served  since  the  inception  of  the  scheme, 
was  succeeded  by  six  new  commissioners,  who  were 
appointed  by  Mayor  Robert  A.  V an  Wyck  on  January 
19.  These  were:  Lewis  Nixon,  James  W.  Boyle,  Smith 
E.  Lane,  Julian  D.  Fairchild,  John  W  Weber  and 
Thomas  S.  Moore.  Mr.  Nixon  succeeded  Col.  Baird 
as  president  of  the  commission,  Mr.  Boyle  became  its 
vice-president  and  Mr.  Lane  its  secretary.  The  office 
of  treasurer  was  discontinued  and  payments  on  the 
work  wyere  made  by  the  city's  financial  department 
upon  the  approval  of  the  newly  created  Board  of  Esti- 
mate and  Apportionment.  This  change  in  the  financial 
scheme  of  the  commission  was  made,  as  were  many 
other  similar  changes  throughout  the  town,  with  an 
idea  of  securing  uniformity  in  the  city's  financial 
methods.  In  the  case  of  the  Williamsburg  bridge,  at 
least,  it  worked  havoc  and  caused  great  delay.  Soon 
after  the  new  commissioners  assumed  office  they  were 
forced  to  stop  work  on  all  portions  of  the  bridge,  while 
the  Finance  Department  tried  to  ascertain  whether  the 
city  could  borrow  the  necessary  money  to  proceed  with 
the  enterprise.  The  legal  knots  were  finally  untangled 
and  the  work  resumed  after  this  interruption. 

The  fact  that  Chief  Engineer  Buck's  name  was  to 


IOO 


The  Williamsburg  Bridge 


become  linked  with  the  building  of  the  Williamsburg 
bridge,  just  as  the  names  of  the  Roeblings  were  linked 
with  that  of  its  predecessor,  was  recognized  by  the  new 
commission,  and  together  with  Mr.  Nichols,  his  right 
hand  man  and  chief  assistant,  he  was  continued  in  prac- 
tical charge  of  the  bridge  building.  The  structure  at 
that  time  was  practically  two  separate  constructions  a 
half  mile  apart,  so  resident  engineers  were  appointed 
on  each  side  of  the  channel.  E.  G.  Freeman  was  made 
resident  engineer  on  the  Manhattan  shore  and  E. 
Duryea,  Jr.,  tilled  a  similar  position  in  Williamsburg 
Both  young  men  worked  with  energy  and  with  success. 
Mr.  Freeman's  connection  with  the  bridge  soon  ended. 
He  fell  ill  in  [899  and  soon  after  died.  His  loss  was 
keenly  felt  by  all  the  men  employed  on  the  works. 
Another  young  man,  who  afterwards  came  to  have 
much  to  say  in  regard  to  the  bridge,  was  head  draughts- 
man of  the  engineering  corps.  He  was  Holton  D. 
Robinson,  who  is  at  present  the  engineer  in  charge 
of  the  work. 

The  work  of  building  the  anchorages  followed  close 
upon  the  heels  of  the  piers.  The  contracts  were 
awarded  before  the  original  commissioners  retired  from 
office  and  work  commenced  soon  after  President  Nixon 
and  his  associates  came  in  charge  of  the  bridge.  After 
spirited  bidding  Shanly  &  Ryan,  of  Manhattan,  were 


Contracts  for  the  Anchorages 


101 


given  the  contract  for  the  Manhattan  anchorage,  while 
the  Degnon-McLean  company  were  intrusted  with  the 
building  of  the  corresponding"  structure  in  Brooklyn. 
The  price  paid  for  building  the  Manhattan  anchorage 
was  $750,770,   while   the   Degnon-McLean  company 


were  given  $723,528  for  that  phase  of  the  work  in 
Brooklyn.  Poor  foundation  soil  was  found  at  the  rest- 
ing place  for  the  Manhattan  anchorage,  which  neces- 
sitated the  driving  of  3,500  piles  and  added  materially 
to  the  cost. 

The  anchorages  are  huge  piles  of  concrete  and  lime- 
stone masonry,  faced  with  granite  above  the  ground, 
and  are  built  to  resist  the  pull  of  the  cables.    They  differ 


READY    FOR    THE    STEEL  TOWERS 


102 


The  Williamsburg  B  ridge 


only  in  detail,  and  so  immense  are  these  constructions 
that  were  their  massive  walls  built  to  enclose  the  floors 
of  some  building,  that  building'  would  be  ranked  as  one 
of  the  very  largest  in  this  city  of  gigantic  structures. 


ERECTING    THE    FALSE-WORK    FOR    THE  END-SPAN 


They  appear  externally  as  solid  masses  of  masonry  but 
are  cored  out  wherever  practicable  to  secure  an  economy 
of  material.  Each  is  intended  to  resist  overturning  or 
sliding  on  its  base  under  a  pull  of  20,000  tons  trans- 
mitted through  the  cables.  Both  anchorages  rest  on 
heavy  grillages  of  timber  overlaid  by  great  masses  of 
concrete  upon  which  the  stone  masonry  is  placed.  Each 
contains  about  1,700  tons  of  steel,  most  of  this  being 


Hozv  the  Cables  are  Secured 


in  the  cable  chains  and  in  the  anchorage  platforms  for 
the  chains. 

These  chains  are  attached  to  the  ends  of  the  wire 
cables  that  cross  the  river  and  support  the  suspended 
structure.  They  are  composed  of  the  eye-bars,  which 
have  been  a  continued  subject  of  discussion  in  their 
relation  to  the  Manhattan  bridge,  and  are  hidden 
within  their  anchorages.  They  are  anchored  to  twelve 
ton  castings  that  in  turn  are  secured  by  the  anchorage 
platforms.  These  platforms  are  built  up  of  steel  gir- 
ders, nearly  6  feet  deep  and  24  by  36  feet  in  area,  for 
each  of  the  cables.  The  eye-bars  of  the  cable  chains, 
1,516  in  each  anchorage,  pass  between  the  girders  of 
these  anchorage  platforms.  The  whole  forms  an 
unyielding  mass.  When  the  erection  of  the  bridge 
was  completed  and  the  full  weight  placed  upon  the 
four  cables  the  eye-bar  chains  were  elongated  to  their 
permanent  length  under  load.  Then  concrete  was 
packed  about  the  entire  construction,  making  an  an- 
chorage of  great  strength  and  impenetrability.  It  is 
probable  that  the  anchorages  would  resist  more  than 
twice  the  strain  that  will  ever  be  placed  upon  them. 
Almost  any  other  portion  of  the  bridge  could  be 
overstrained  to  breaking  before  they  would  show 
the  slightest  effects  from  the  abnormal  stress. 

Once  the  financial  questions  involving  the  building 


104  The  Williamsburg  Bridge 


A    CLOSER   VIEW   OF   THE  FALSE-WORK 


of  the  bridge  were  settled  the  work  was  prosecuted 
with  vigor.  The  Manhattan  piers  were  finished  and 
their  Brooklyn  twins  were  only  slightly  behind  in  the 
making.    The  year  which  brought  the  war  and  all  the 


The  Death  of  a  Commissioner 


consequent  excitement  in  the  nearby  Navy  Yard  as 
well  as  brought  great  local  changes,  passed  into  history 
and  1899  was  born  before  other  radical  steps  were 
taken  in  the  construction  of  the  Williamsburg  bridge. 

The  contracts  for  the  building  of  the  steel  towers 
and  the  end-spans,  which  were  logically  the  next  step 
in  the  process  of  the  work,  were  awarded  February 
21,  1899,  to  the  New  Jersey  Steel  and  Iron  company 
for  $1,220,230,  and  the  shops  of  that  corporation  were 
at  once  put  into  commission  to  shape  the  product  of 
the  rolling  mills  so  that  the  steel  work  would  be  ready 
to  place  upon  the  raising  of  the  anchorage  walls  to 
the  height  of  the  deck  of  the  bridge. 

The  chronology  of  the  bridge  at  this  time  was  in- 
terrupted by  the  death  of  one  of  the  commissioners, 
Thomas  S.  Moore,  of  Manhattan.  Mr.  Moore  died 
April  1,  1899.  Ten  days  later  Mayor  Van  Wyck 
appointed  James  D.  Bell,  of  Brooklyn,  as  his  successor. 
On  June  15,  of  the  same  year,  the  commission  elected 
Mr.  Bell  as  its  secretary  to  succeed  Smith  E.  Lane. 

A  retrospect  of  the  work  on  January  1,  1900, 
showed  almost  all  of  the  steelwork  for  the  tower  and 
end-spans  on  the  ground  and  ready  for  erection.  There 
had  been  great  delays  in  the  delivery  of  this  steel  and, 
as  heretofore  stated,  delays  in  the  tower  building  have 
been  one  of  the  chief  causes  for  hindrance  in  the  com- 


io6 


The  Williamsburg  Bridge 


pletion  of  the  bridge.  (  )n  that  same  clay  a  report  issued 
by  the  I  Cast  River  I  iridic  commission  showed  that  the 
contracts  lei  up  to  that  time  aggregated  $3,619,823.46, 
while  $908,256.50  had  been  expended  in  the  purchase 


PLACING  THE  BASES  OF  THE  STEEL  TOWERS 


The  Towers  Started 


of  real  estate.  The  bridge  bonds  then  sold  amounted 
to  $5,255,148.16.  On  the  structure  in  real  estate  and 
in  completed  construction  and  on  the  expenses  of  the 
commission  and  its  engineers  $3,466,338.45  had  actually 
been  spent. 

The  steel  cable  contract  was  awarded  at  that  time 
to  John  A.  Roebling's  Sons,  of  New  York,  for 
$1,398,000.  This  contract  involved  the  manufacture 
and  erection  of  about  5,000  tons  of  steel  wire  and  cast- 
ings. In  many  ways  it  was  the  most  important  award 
in  the  construction  of  the  bridge  and  great  care  was 
taken  by  both  the  commission  and  its  engineers  in 
regard  to  the  matter. 

Within  a  few  months  thereafter  the  great  steel 
towers  that  were  to  bear  these  cables  far  aloft  were 
started  from  the  stone  piers  that  had  been  finished 
long  months  before.  The  cast  steel  pedestals  of  four 
out  of  the  eight  columns  of  each  tower  were  laid  on 
each  pier.  Each  of  these  pedestals  weighs  1 1  tons 
and  each  is  fastened  to  the  stonework  by  four  anchor 
bolts,  7  feet  long  and  3  inches  in  diameter. 

Before  the  ironworkers  brought  the  towers  into  being, 
raising  the  eight-foot  columns  step  by  step,  a  host 
of  carpenters  had  started  one  of  the  two  most  im- 
portant temporary  phases  of  the  work.  Timber  false- 
work  was   erected   from    each   tower   back   to  the 


108  The  Williamsburg  Bridge 

anchorage  and  at  almost  the  height  of  the  roadways. 
Upon  this  false-work,  which  necessarily  was  very 
heavy  and  strong,  a  traveler  was  ereeted  for  the 
building  of  the  trusses  of  the  end-span.  These  spans 
support  themselves,  resting  at  either  end  on  tower 


THE  PEDESTALS  OF  THE  TOWERS  FOLLOW  THE  BASES 


and  anchorage,  with  additional  support  midway 
upon  a  roller  bearing  of  an  intermediate  tower  the 
same  width  as  the  main  towers,  but  only  extending  as 
far  up  in  the  air  as  the  end-spans.  Once  the  main 
towers  were  brought  well  above  the  level  of  the  road- 
ways, or  the  deck  of  the  bridge,  travelers  were  placed 


The  Final  Contracts 


iog 


in  position  on  the  false-work  and  the  work  of  erecting 
the  end-spans  carried  forward  with  dispatch.  The 
towers  continued  upward  into  the  air  until  they  became 
objects  commanding  attention  by  reason  of  their  very 
great   height  and  offering  to  those  lucky   folk  who 


managed  to  attain  their  tops  a  panoramic  view  of  rare 
interest  and  beauty. 

The  final  contracts  for  the  remaining  important 
parts  of  the  Williamsburg  bridge,  the  approaches, 
were  being  considered  as  the  roller  castings  to  carry 
the  four  great  cables  were  being  placed  on  the  bridge 
tops.    These  awards  were  made  to  the  Pennsylvania 


THE  TOWERS   REACH    THE   LEVEL   OF   THE  ROADWAYS 


I  IO 


The  Williamsburg  Bridge 


Steel  company  and  were  finally  given  October  18, 
1900.  The  contract  price  for  the  long  Manhattan 
approach,  with  its  12,000  tons  of  steel,  was  fixed  at 
the  bid  of  $1,464,000,  and  the  price  for  the  shorter 
Brooklyn  approach,  with  6,000  tons  of  steel,  was 
similarly  fixed  at  $947,000. 

The  approaches  are  simply  steel  viaducts,  [,280  feet 
long  in  Brooklyn  and  2,070  feet  long  in  Manhattan, 
terminating  in  masonry  structures  where  the  grade 
comes  near  the  ground;  at  Bedford  avenue,  in  Brook- 
lyn, and  at  Ridge  street,  in  Manhattan.  They  end 
with  flourish  and  pom])  as  well  befits  so  big  a  bridge, 
and  in  all  probability  will  never  be  loaded  down  with 
such  terminal  stations  as  have  always  disfigured  the 
Brooklyn  bridge.  The  approaches  would  be  things  of 
great  beauty  and  distinction,  from  their  impressive 
size,  were  not  their  attractiveness  marred  by  a  single 
feature.  In  order  to  give  an  easy  grade  to  the  two 
elevated  railway  tracks,  which  have  the  exact  centre 
of  the  bridge  and  which  were  planned  for  the  poor  hill 
climbing  proclivities  of  steam  locomotives,  the  tracks 
are  at  the  deck  of  the  bridge  along  the  centre  span 
and  are  brought  well  up  into  the  air  above  the  road- 
ways on  the  approaches.  The  substitution  of  electricity 
for  steam  on  the  railways  of  the  city  may  yet  render 
it  possible  to  remove  these  ungainly  midair  structures 


Towers  and  End-spans  Ready 


1 1 1 


THEN  MOUNT  UPWARDS  INTO  THE  AIR 


and  provide  some  sort  of  subway  connection  that  will 
be  more  befitting  the  dignity  of  this  monarch  among 
all  bridges. 

Towers  and  end-spans  in  position,  all  was  ready  in 


I  12 


The  Williamsburg  Bridge 


the  hot  summer  months  of  1901  for  the  bringing  of 
the  first  wire  across  the  river  and  making  the  earliest 
physical  connection  between  the  two  parts  of  the  bridge 
that  had  already  been  years  in  building.  There  is 
probably  in  the  whole  science  of  bridge-building  nothing 
that  is  more  fascinating  than  the  cable-making  of  a 
great  suspension  bridge.  To  a  layman  at  least  this 
weaving  of  the  web,  this  tangible  bridge  growing  be- 
fore his  eyes  atom  by  atom,  thread  by  thread,  is  both 
real  and  dramatic  in  the  extreme.  Kipling  has  written 
of  the  thrilling  work  of  erecting  a  cantilever  bridge. 
If  Kipling  had  crossed  the  East  river  on  the  Twenty- 
third  street  ferry  during  the  fall  of  1901  or  the  spring 
of  1902,  he  might  have  spun  another  romance  upon 
the  spinning  of  the  bridge. 

A  float,  convoyed  by  a  shrieking  and  flag-bedecked 
tugboat,  crossed  the  river  on  August  11,  1901,  and  was 
greeted  enthusiastically  by  the  harbor  craft.  On  the 
deck  of  this  float  was  a  giant  spool,  and  as  it  slowly 
revolved  it  left  a  single  wire  extending  from  the 
Brooklvn  tower  pier  to  the  Manhattan  tower  pier.  It 
was  only  a  few  minutes'  work  to  raise  the  ends  of  this 
wire  to  the  tops  of  the  towers  and  then  so  to  adjust 
its  curve  that  it  would  very  closely  follow  the  curve  of 
the  cables  of  the  completed  bridge.  The  bridge-builder 
calls  that  centre  dip  of  his  cables  from  tower  to  tower 
the  versine  of  his  structure. 


Making  the  Foot-bridges 


"3 


Til  KIR    (  UXSTKrCTIOX  ADVANCES 


Other  wires  followed  this  first  and  a  few  days  later 
the  Roeblings'  workmen,  cautious  fellows  each  of  them, 
bound  these  into  eight  temporary  cables  from  anchor- 
age to  anchorage,  and  at  each  edge  of  the  projected 


H4 


The  Williamsburg  Bridge 


bridge  erected  a  light  foot-bridge  which  extended  from 
the  Manhattan  anchorage  to  the  Brooklyn  anchorage 
over  the  top  of  the  towers.  These  twin  foot-paths  were 
connected  by  cross-bridges  at  short  intervals  and  the 
whole  temporary  structure  was  fastened  by  various  guv 
cables  and  braced  against  the  wind. 

That  was  a  real  bridge  across  the  East  river  and  a 
source  of  delight  to  such  sturdy  and  daring  folk  that 
were  permitted  to  cross  it.  It  was  erected  for  the  men 
who  were  to  build  the  permanent  cables,  which  are  the 
very  bone  and  fibre  of  the  bridge.  The  twin  structure 
was  ready  in  three  months  from  the  time  the  first  wire 
had  been  carried  across  the  river. 

At  the  end  of  the  cable  chains,  which  have  already 
been  described,  are  a  set  of  cast-steel  shoes,  each  about 
1 6  inches  in  diameter.  These  are  the  buttons  upon  which 
the  wires  of  the  cables  are  fastened.  It  takes  7,696  wires 
—each  wire  3~i6ths  of  an  inch  in  diameter — to  make 
a  single  cable.  The  wires  are  assembled  in  strands  of 
208  wires  each,  37  strands  in  all,  and  to  each  strand  is 
given  an  individual  shoe.  The  wires  are  perfectly 
straight  and  laid  parallel  to  each  other  and  are 
wrapped  first  into  the  separate  strands  and  finally  into 
a  solid  circular  mass,  about  18  inches  in  diameter. 
Each  wire  as  delivered  from  the  factories  in  Trenton, 
N.  J.,  was  about  3,500  feet  long,  but  these  were  so 


The  Cable  Strands 


UNTIL  THEY  NEAR  THE  TOP 


spliced  that  each  strand  is  practically  a  single  wire 
doubled  upon  itself  for  104  times  and  passing-  over  the 
rounded  edge  of  the  shoe  without  breaking  or  losing 
its  continuity. 


n6 


The  Williamsburg  Bridge 


Guide  wires  suspended  just  above  the  temporary 
bridge  showed  the  final  location  of  the  cables.  A  four- 
foot  grooved  wheel,  know  n  in  the  parlance  of  the  bridge- 
builders  as  the  "traveler,"  worked  back  and  forth 
along  the  guide  wires,  one  "traveler"  being  assigned 
for  the  building  of  each  cable.  With  one  end  of  the 
wire  held  in  position  at  the  anchorage,  the  bight  was 
placed  upon  this  wheel  and  carried  to  the  anchorage 
and  shoe  upon  the  opposite  shore,  some  3,000  feet  away. 
Thus,  two  wires  at  a  time,  the  strands  were  laid  and 
secured  to  the  shoes.  When  the  "traveler"  had  crossed 
the  river  104  times  the  strand  was  complete  and  the 
wire-end  that  had  first  been  held  was  spliced  to  the 
remaining  and  free  end  of  the  wire.  Then  the  strand 
was  practically  one  wire,  endless  and  approximately 
325  miles  long.  When  the  "traveler"  had  spun  the 
other  strands  they  were  gathered  together  and  cast- 
ings placed  upon  them  at  about  20-foot  intervals,  for 
receiving  the  doubled  ends  of  the  perpendicular  sus- 
pender cables  which  bear  the  entire  weight  of  the 
centre-span  of  the  bridge.  Between  the  suspenders  the 
main  cables  are  covered,  after  having  been  filled  with 
a  greasy  compound,  with  thick  canvas  strips  under  thin 
shields  of  sheet  steel.  Each  cable,  when  completed, 
weighs  1,000  tons  and  bears  a  load  of  five  times  its 
weight. 


The  Department  of  Bridges  in  Charge 


117 


Cable-making-  is  more  quickly  related  than  executed, 
or  than  was  executed  on  the  Williamsburg-  bridge,  at 
least.  Through  the  early  summer  of  1902  the  cable- 
making  dragged  woefully.  It  was  a  sort  of  sad  be- 
quest to  a  new  administration  from  the  former  East 
River  Bridge  commission.    The  commission  had  ceased 


AND   ARK   READY  TO  BE  CAPPED 


to  exist  when  1902  was  born.  Another  of  the  frequent 
Albany  changes  in  the  city  charter  had  legislated  the 
old  board  out  of  life  and  had  turned  the  more  than 
half  finished  bridge  over  to  the  mercies  of  the  De- 
partment of  Bridges.  Mayor  Low  appointed  Gustav 
Lindenthal  as  the  commissioner  in  charge  of  that  par- 
ticular department  of  city  administration,  and  Mr.  Lin- 
denthal was  very  much  annoyed  at  the  delays  shown 
by  the  Roeblings  in  executing  their  contract.  When 


n8 


The  Williamsburg  Bridge 


the  expiration  of  the  contract  came  to  pass  and  the 
cable-making  was  months  from  completion,  the  bridge 
commissioner,  Mr.  Lindenthal,  deducted  the  penal  sum 
of  $1,000  a  day  for  the  delay  from  the  payment  to  the 
cable  concern.  The  delay  was  considerable  and  the 
total  fine  exceeded  $175,000.  The  matter  is  at  present 
being  fought  out  in  the  courts  between  the  Department 
of  Bridges  and  the  Roeblings. 

Tn  August  of  last  year  the  cables  were  complete  and 
the  preparations  to  hang  the  "suspenders"  went  ahead 
without  greater  delay.  This  work  was  well  in  hand 
by  November,  and  the  bridge  engineers  foresaw  an 
early  completion  of  the  structure  and  its  being  thrown 
open  for  traffic  in  the  summer  of  the  present  year. 
H.  D.  Robinson,  who  has  been  mentioned  before  in 
this  sketch,  and  Kingsley  L.  Martin,  whose  father, 
C.  C.  Martin,  was  for  many  years  the  guiding  spirit  of 
the  Brooklyn  bridge,  became  more  actively  associated 
than  before  with  the  progress  of  the  work.  They  were 
equally  optimistic  with  Mr.  Buck  and  Mr.  Nichols  in 
a  belief  that  there  would  be  no  more  delay  in  the  bridge- 
building. 

The  unexpected  always  happens.  It  certainly  was 
the  unexpected  that  a  steel  suspension  bridge  should 
be  badly  wrecked  by  fire.  On  November  10  of  last 
year  a  sensational  and  dramatic  blaze  at  the  top  of 


The  Fire  on  the  Bridge 


119 


ALL  IS  THEN   IN   READINESS  TO  RECEIVE  THE  CABLES 

the  Manhattan  tower  caused  a  cessation  of  the  work 
and  wreaked  much  temporary  damage.  In  the  late 
afternoon  a  careless  workman  overturned  a  rivet 
stove  in  the  tool-house  at  the  top  of  the  tower  and  the 
drv  timber  false-work,  well  soaked  with  oil,  made 


120 


The  Williamsburg  Bridge 


the  most  beautiful  and  unique  blaze  ever  witnessed 
hereabouts.  The  workmen,  by  means  of  hasty  flight 
and,  in  a  few  instances,  by  the  narrowest  fighting 
chance,  escaped  with  their  lives.  The  fire  depart- 
ment, when  called,  found  that  the  problem  of  handling 
a  fierce  blaze  300  feet  above  their  heads  was  beyond 


PREPARED   TO   PLACE  THE   FIRST  WIRE 


their  ability  and  the  fire  burned  itself  out,  feeding 
on  every  vestige  of  woodwork  about  the  tower-top  and 
utterly  destroying  the  temporary  foot-path. 

The  bridge  was  thought  at  the  time  to  be  extensively 
and  permanently  damaged.  Then  it  was  shown  that  the 
cables,  for  which  the  greatest  alarm  had  been  felt,  had 


Repairing  the  Damage 


121 


undergone  at  the  factory  a  greater  fire-test  than  was 
possible  by  the  tower  blaze.  By  means  of  some  clever 
splicing  of  about  50  wires  of  one  or  two  strands  the 
damage  was  quickly  and  easily  repaired,  and  another 


THE   FOOT-BRIDGES    IN  PLACE 

16 


122 


The  Williamsburg  Bridge 


temporary  foot-bridg"e  was  rigged  from  the  permanent 
cables  to  assist  in  the  placing  of  the  centre-span. 

The  present  year  has  been  one  of  great  .activity  in 
the  building  of  the  Williamsburg  bridge.  The  Penn- 
sylvania Steel  company  prosecuted  its  contracts  with 
great  rapidity  and  early  winter  saw  the  bridge-builders 
at  work  upon  the  truss  work  of  the  centre-span.  The 
span  was  built  out  toward  the  centre  of  the  river  from 
each  tower.  Great  progress  was  made  in  this  work, 
and  on  February  25  the  steel  roadways  were  joined  and 
another  great  step  in  the  progress  of  the  structure  was 
finished.  Since  that  time  the  work  has  been  in  the 
nature  of  filling  in  missing  parts  and  adding  what  may 
be  colloquially  termed  finishing  touches. 

Chief  Engineer  Buck  retired  from  his  post  in  the 
past  summer  and  became  consulting  engineer  to  the 
Department  of  Bridges,  which  position  he  continues  to 
hold.  O.  F.  Nichols,  his  assistant,  retired  entirely  from 
the  work.  Holton  D.  Robinson  became  chief  engineer 
and  Kingsley  L.  Martin  the  resident  engineer  in 
charge  of  the  work.  They  made  few  changes  in  the 
bridge  plans,  merely  some  substitutions  in  the  paving 
of  roadways  and  footpaths,  and  have  faithfully  carried 
forth  the  ideas  of  designer  Buck  np  to  the  opening  of 
the  structure  for  daily  traffic. 

It  is  a  long  step  from  the  little  horse  ferry  which 


THE   "TRAVELER"   THAT    SPINS    THE  CABLES 


124 


The  Williamsbu  rg  B  ridge 


Woodhnll  established  from  Manhattan  island  to  Wil- 
liamsburg hamlet  up  to  the  present  majestic  bridge. 
Mr.  Buck  has  labored  faithfully  and  produced  a 
work  of  monumental  character.  I  [e  has  reverted  in 
the  Williamsburg-  bridge  to  the  earlier  types  of  sus- 


THE   SHOES    UPON    WHICH    THE   STRANDS    ARE  FASTENED 

pension  bridges  in  which  the  main-span  only  is  sus- 
pended from  the  cables  and  in  which  the  cables  from 
the  towers  to  the  anchorages  carry  no  portion  of  the 
load  of  the  structure  but  act  simply  as  back-stays.  His 
plan  shortens  the  length  of  the  cables  and  reduces  the 


The  Arrangement  of  the  Trusses 


125 


cost  of  one  of  the  most  expensive  features  of  a  suspension 
bridge.  He  determined  that  two  stiffening"  trusses 
should  be  used  and  that  these  should  be  very  deep  and 
practically  continuous  from  anchorage  to  anchorage; 
that  the  two  elevated  railway  tracks  should  be  placed 
between  the  trusses,  and  that  the  roadways  should  be 


FINAL  TOUCHES  ON  THE  CENTRE- SPAN 


bracketed  on  cantilever  floor-beams  carried  outside  the 
trusses  for  this  purpose.  The  foot-paths,  bicycle-paths 
and  four  surface  car  tracks  are  all  placed  within  the 
trusses. 

It  was  decided  that  it  is  well-nigh  impossible  to  bring 

many  avenues  of  transportation  through  anv  masonry 
17 


126 


The  Williamsburg  Bridge 


BUILDING   THE   BROOKLYN  APPROACH 


tower  of  reasonable  dimensions.  This  decision,  coupled 
with  the  saving  in  money  and  time,  led  to  the  sub- 
stitution of  steel  for  stone  structures,  such  as  form  so 
picturesque  a  feature  of  the  Brooklyn  bridge.  The 
delays  in  the  construction  of  these  towers  were,  of 
course,  not  anticipated.  To  the  bridge  builders  the 
Williamsburg  structure  has  proved  their  efficacy.  The 
next  bridge,  the  Manhattan,  will  undoubtedly  show  still 
another  step  in  the  construction  of  steel  towers.  For 
that  structure  an  architect  has  been  called  into  con- 
sultation, and  he  has  evolved  towers  of  rare  beauty 
and  artistic  merit. 

Step  by  step  the  Williamsburg  bridge  has  been  de- 
picted here.  It  is  not  only  in  great  advance  of  the 
crude  ferry  but  it  is  considerably  better  planned  and 


Progress  Shozvn  by  the  Bridge 


127 


adapted  for  its  purpose  than  was  the  still  famed 
Brooklyn  bridge.  Through  every  detail  of  the  work 
this  progress  and  improvement  is  shown  and  a  careful 
comparison  of  the  Brooklyn  and  Williamsburg  bridges 
will  show  the  twenty  years  of  progress  in  bridge-build- 
ing. Other  structures  crossing  the  East  river  are 
bound  to  come,  each  showing  the  development  of 
mechanical  engineering,  for  there  seems  to  be  no  limit 
placed  upon  the  growth  of  this  marvellous  city;  yet  it 
will  be  many  and  many  a  long  day  before  the  Williams- 
burg bridge,  the  product  of  delay  and  anxiety  and  of 
thought  and  muscle,  of  the  forests  and  the  mines  of  the 
nation,  will  cease  to  hold  the  commanding  position  to 
which  it  attained  on  December  19,  1903. 


THE  WILLIAMSBURG  TOWER  SITE  BEFORE  THE  WORK  BEGAN 


HOW  THE  BRIDGE  WILL  SERVE  BROOKLYN 
By  courtesy  of  the  Brooklyn  Daily  Eagle. 


DEVASTATION   CAUSED   BY  THE  FIRE 


Statistical  Tables 


Comparative  Dimensions  of  Brooklyn  and 
Williamsburg  Bridges. 

,  Bridges  , 

Length  :                                             Brooklyn.  Williamsburg. 

Main  span,  c.  to  c.  of  towers              ',595'  6"  1,600'  o" 

Land  spans,  tower — anchorage....      930'  o"  596' 6" 

Brooklyn  approach                               971' o"  1,865'  °" 

Manhattan  approach                          1,562' "6"  2,606'  2" 

Total  of  carriageway                        5,989' o"  7,264'  2" 

Height  : 

Clear,  abv.  m.h.w.,  at  centre                  135'  o"  140'  4$" 

Same,  200'  each  side  of  centre   135'  o" 

Above  m.  h.  w.  to  centre  of  cable 

at  tower                                         272'  o"  332'  8^" 

Above  m.  h.  w.  to  roadway  in  centre 

of  span                                           138'  3"  145'  si" 

Same,  at  centre  of  tower                      119'  3"  1  25 '  7 4" 

Of  tower  above  roadway                        159' o"  210' o" 

Width  of  bridge                                      85'  o"  118' o" 

Grade  of  roadway  in  100  ft                         3'  3"  3'  o" 

Max.  grade,  roadway  in  100  ft                      3'  9"  3'  <\\" 

Foundation  below  m.  h.  w.: 

Brooklyn                                               45' o"  S. 91. 9',  N.  107  5' 

Manhattan  ,                                78' o"  S.66  o',  N  55.0' 

Size  of  caissons:  Brooklyn                  168x102'  (2)63X79' 

Manhattan....                                  172x102'  (2)60x76' 

Size  of  anchorages  : 

At  base — Brooklyn                           129X119'  177X158' 

At  base — Manhattan                         129X119'  1  ll'W  X  1 5  1  '9" 

At  top                                              117X104'  i49'Xi27'5" 


Statistical  Tables 


Comparative  Dimensions — Continued. 

,  Bridges  N 

Brooklyn.  Williamsburg. 

Diameter  of  cables                                 l5%"  1 8-|" 

No.  wires  in  each  cable                          5>296  7,7°° 

Length  of  wire  weighing  i  lb                     12'  10'  3" 

Weight  of  one  cable  per  lin.  ft               500  lbs.  770  lbs. 

Total  miles  of  wire  in  4  cables                14,361  1 7,43 2 

Versine  at  mean  temperature                   128'  178' 

Ult.  strength  each  cable,  tons                  12,200  24,500 

Permanent  weight  suspended  : 

From  main  span  cables,  tons                  6,780  '3.74Q 

From  shore  span  cables,  tons                7,900  o 


Quantities. 

The  quantities  of  the  different  principal  materials 
used  in  the  construction  of  the  bridge  were,  approxi- 
mately, as  follows: 


Towers  (each  3,048)  tons   6,096 

End  spans,  tons   6,140 

Brooklyn  approach,  tons   6,085 

New  York  approach,  tons   10,550 

Suspended  span,  tons   7,772 

Cables  and  suspenders,  tons   5,ooo 

In  anchorages,  tons   3, 100 

Concrete,  cubic  yards   60,000 

Stone  masonry,  cubic  yards   130,000 

Excavation,  cubic  yards   125,000 

Timber,  ft.  B.  M  8.000,000 


NECROLOGY 

New  York  Caisson 

Two  men  killed  (names  unknown) 

Brooklyn  Anchorage 

C.  B.  Benson,  December  18,  1897  Michael  McCue,   June  14,  1898 

G.  Ekickson,  June    8,  1898         John  Boyle,  September  26,  1898 

T.  Mokan,  September  14,  1899 

Manhattan  Anchorage 

CarmineCakavi.no,  Mar.  8,  1898  Michele  Bianco,   March  8,  1898 

Giuseppi  RuMOLO,     Mar.  8,  1898  Antonio  Muskite,     Oct.  4,  1898 

Alexander  Ekickson,  May  11,  1900 

Steel  Towers  and  End-Spans 

John  Chanler,  May  18,  1900  Charles  Miller,  Feb.  26,  1901 
C.  E.  Bedell,  Sept.  28,  1900  Louis  Demange,  Feb.  12,  1901 
Pai  l  Ward,    November  11,  1900  Frank  Aberto.n,  March    8,  1901 

E.  Alexander,  April  19,  1901  , 

Brooklyn  Approach 

Peter  A.  Smith,  November  19,  1901 

Manhattan  Approach 

Joseph  Winkler,     July  24,  1901  Carl  J.  Jacobson,  April    9,  1903 

Antonio  Scalzo,     May    8,  1902  Adolph  J.  Weber,  July  15,  1903 

Wm.  Carroll,    October  16,  1902  Herman  Hansen,     July  15,  1903 

Suspended  Span 

Patrick  McDermott,  September  9,  1902 


Cahles 

Geo.  Shaurer,     March  24,  1902  Thomas  Quinlan.  April  22,  1903 


